Athena's Daughter
by Lady Kanko Wildstar
Summary: The Roseline is not the only line that could change the world. Follow Katherine, Robert, Sophie, Collet, Fache and Mortati through a series of life altering events. With murder, mystery and romance abound what will lie in the future is unknown.
1. Chapter 1

Athena's Daughter

By: Lady Kanko Wildstar

Author's note: please forgive my terrible French, if you know any corrections that need to be done please email me and I'll fix it as quickly as I can. This is a crossover between The Da Vinci Code and my Katherine Evans AU fics. A Bezu Fache/OFC fic with my character Katherine Evans. It has some language and few more adult scenes so it's rated rather high for safety's sake. So no flame's for that as you have now been warned. There are reference to other shows, books and movies as well. Some will be small, others big but they will vary. Let's see if you can figure them all out.

88888888888888

Prologue

"Presenting Minister Jean –Pierre Raffarin and his wife Anne-Marie Raffarin." The door guard announced loudly to the ballroom. The event was a mix of old and new formal etiquette. Traditional announcement of arrivals at the entrance to the ballroom. But a more modern stage and instrumental group.

"Presenting Captain Bezu Fache and Lieutenant Jérôme Collet of the DCPJ."

Paris was playing host too many formal events. World leaders in politics, science, arts, wealth and even law enforcement had gathered for a series of events. Part of the crown of which was this charity ball. The pope himself would be making an appearance.

"Presenting Professor Robert Langdon and Agent Sophie Neveu of the DCPJ."

As would the famous, Lady Katherine Evans. A living prodigy in whatever field she _chooses_ to study or work in. Her apparent favorite being in the criminal sciences and profiling. Titled in inheritance and by deed. She rarely made public appearances at such events, but with the promise of her appearance, many a people wished for the chance to say they had meet her. She would be the last to arrive.

"Presenting his holiness, Pope Mortati." The door guard announced while bowing deeply as the Holy See himself walked past to be greeted by the minister and his wife. The pope smiled and nodded to many before everyone's attention was riveted to the doorway once more.

"Presenting Lady Katherine Evans!" Stiletto heels clicked on the floor as a woman's form stepped from the shadows. Gasps and mutters of appreciation sounded through out the hall. Standing 5'9" including heels, with long silken red-brown hair, with true aristocratic features seemed to only enhance captivating hazel eyes. A royal blue long flowing gown seemed to be artistically draped around her hour-glass form. With glittering diamonds around her throat, wrists, and ears only added to her stunning image further.

The minister rushed forward. "Lady Evans it is honor to meet you and have you with us this evening."

"I thank you for the invitation, though I am here to do a few of my friends requesting it for the charities sake." She bowed her head slightly in acknowledgement as they shook hands.

"And may I ask who was kind enough to further the charities cause?" He said congenially, while thinking rapidly of how to ingratiate himself to her and to her 'friends' if need be.

"Professor Langdon, Sophie Neveu, and his holiness Pope Mortati. I have worked and became friends with all three."

"Indeed, Katherine." The pope stepped forward giving her a hug. "How is my goddaughter this eve?" Mutters of surprise filled the room at this.

"Well enough, having come here straight from Japan. The Emperor requested my assistance with some negotiations. I expect I will sleep well tonight." She smiled at him before turning to the minister once more. "I apologize if I am short with my words, I hope you will forgive me for it."

"Of course, such travel can get to the best of us, Lady Katherine. There is no need to worry about such things." He beamed at her. Sound gradually returned to the room and people began to move about talking, shipping on Champaign around in groups. The pope nodded to his goddaughter before beginning to move about. Katherine returned the gesture before going over to Robert and Sophie.

After exchanging hugs and hand shakes Sophie spoke, "Katherine I would like to introduce Captain Bezu Fache and Lieutenant Jérôme Collet of the DCPJ. Captain Fache and Lt. Collet may I introduce Lady Katherine Evans."

"An honor to meet you, Lady Katherine." Fache bowed slightly over her hand. Collet soon followed with his own bow.

"There is no need for such formalities. Please call me Katherine." She smiled at them both. "Besides Robert and Sophie have mentioned how effective you are in law enforcement. I must admit I did some research once they mentioned your capture of Teabing. Your records are impeccable."

"Thank you for the compliment….." Fache paused before adding, "Katherine."

"It was more than a compliment. You once investigated the murder of a dear friend, Lady Maria Le Monte. You proved yourself then." She studied as his expression yielded both surprise and understanding before returning to a polite mask.

"Lady Le Monte's killer is on our death row. He will face justice in death as he is now facing in life."

"Well said." She nodded to him, soon the group was exchanging were exchanging stories of hilarious events in there careers. "Did Robert mention his 'experience' at Princeton's Trinity Church?"

"No." Sophie, Fache and Collet said as one while Robert groaned with mortification.

"Robert here was visiting Princeton for guest lectors on, of course, symbology. While I was lecturing on foreign cultures in Asia. He decided to pay a visit to Trinity Church in the middle of the afternoon. He goes walking into the main chapel ignoring all the signs saying there was a wedding being held. Right when the priest is asking 'if any of these two should have reason these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace.' The bride just burst into tears as Robert had to explain how he got 'lost' and didn't mean to interrupt. It took the families four hours to get her to come out of the side chapel that she had locked herself into. The father of the bride was actually a well off business man formerly of the military, and was threatening to have Robert castrated for interrupting the most important day in his daughters life." The three laughed loudly as Robert turned red. "The man's wife offered to let him use her spoon." More gals of laughter followed, drawing many people's attention.

"It's not that funny." Robert declared loudly before grinning mischievously at Katherine. "Want me to tell you about Katherine's agency briefings."

"Yes!" They said while Katherine merely arched her left eye brow.

"Katherine was asked to repay a favor to a senator by sitting in on some agency briefings about various tasks and assignments. Nothing too major, but the CIA's representative was rather like a peacock when it comes to showing off in front of the brass. He's strutting his stuff, basically not really saying anything about anything he was supposed to be saying when Katherine pipes up, 'Exactly how far is your head up your ass?' And everyone just freezes up, including the guy presenting and she follows up with saying, 'Thus far all you have managed to convince me of, is the level of your stupidity. Either get to the point or save us a bullet by jumping out the window.' The generals in the room said 'Hell yeah!' The presenter actually fainted." The three looked at her in shock before starting to laugh again, though Katherine seemed rather smug about it all.

"One of my finer moments." She buffed her nails on her dress, to their chuckles. "Besides Sophie as a few interesting events too." Fache and Collet looked extremely interested as Sophie blushed and Robert chuckled. "Sophie and I met at a cryptography conference in London. We were seated next to one another, and started talking back and forth. A presenter named Andrew Selimca was trying to prove an 'improved Fibonacci sequence' when Sophie here shoots his theory out of the water. She goes on to describe how screwed up his 'improvements' were in front of two thousand experts and colleagues during the q & a portion at the end of his presentation. And I mean the poor man hasn't show his face since then and that was six years ago."

Collet chuckled, "Yes, she can be like that in the DCPJ as well. Many have felt her ire."

"Well the really interesting thing about it all is that Selimca was trying to get Sophie to go out on a date with him, even after the incident. He asked her in the lobby of the Ritz London with dozens of people watching, she says…"Katherine chuckled at the memory for a moment, "she says 'I have no interest in going out with a self absorbed arrogant fool who cannot even get the most basic of cryptography out of his ass!'" Fache and Collet's jaws dropped as they stared at the blushing Sophie.

"He had the biggest beer belly I have ever seen. No personal hygiene what so ever. Reeked like manure. And a horse's ass looks better and more appealing then him." She muttered. The two just began full unrestrained laughter, quickly turning red faced from laughing so hard. It took many minutes to get them settled down again. And by then it was time for dinner. Thankfully they had all been selected to sit at the same table with the minister, his wife and the Pope.

Mortati smiled at their jovial behavior, "Telling stories again are we?"

"Indeed." Katherine nodded seriously though her eyes were twinkling madly, but the group just started chuckling once more. Dinner continued with many more stories and jokes that even the pope joined in on. Soon dessert had come and gone. And it was time for drinks and dancing.

"Lady Katherine may I have this dance?" Fache asking as he bowed.

"_You_," she stressed, "tango Captain?"

Bezu put on a knowing smirk and gave a low whisper, "Still have a few surprises up my sleeve," he gave a courteous bow, "Lady Katherine."

Bezu leaned in when they toke position on the edge of the dance floor, "You have to put your hand on my shoulder."

"Of course," Katherine scoffed, "I know this dance."

"Show me."

The music flowed enticing and entrancing Katherine's very being. Locking eyes with Bezu's dark brown orbs, her feet fell into step immediately. Maybe it was the heat of his body next to hers, but a sudden fire began burning throughout Katherine's body, lighting a fierce passion for the dance. And suddenly it was not a dance between to human beings, it was a _competition_ and everything in the Captain's eyes was daring her to take the challenge. With swift, elegant spin Katherine silently accepted.

The dance floor then and there disappeared. The background and former thought of anything else faded into the shear blackness surrounding their figures. It was only they in their dashing formal wear, dancing like it was their last.

Her blood boiled with excitement, as he spun her out and back into his firm chest, with one very crisp movement. Glancing up into Bezu's chocolate eyes Katherine found his gaze looking back at her completely unreadable.

_What are you thinking? _Katherine wondered, momentarily taken out of the dance.

But then thrown back in as Bezu spun her out again, the royal silk of her dress spun like fountain on the floor, the violins blared in her ears and the dance continued.

Twists, turns, lefts and rights, Katherine was moving her body in ways she hadn't in a while and though her body twinge in pain sometimes. It had been a while since she tangoed. She loved this, the passion, the moment, the mystery, the daring in his eyes. They excited her. Made her feel dangerous, yet scared her at the same time. She could see a passion in his movements and holds. For such a large man Bezu Fache moved with surprising grace and wit, moves that the style of music only complemented.

Faster and faster they danced this dance they do, until completely immersed in the entrancing music beyond thought. Finally as the music began to come to the end, Bezu took her in his strong arms and dipped her low in one swift movement.

As the music came to dead halt the spell on them was broken. And they came back to the elegant floor, with flowing champagne; a shinning diamond chandelier sparkled above them, and smelled of expensive perfume mixed with Cuban cigars. With the addition of roaring clapping, Katherine looked around to see find hundreds of eyes staring back at her.

Katherine looked over at Bezu to see him taking a short bow and slowly, she gave a short curtsey and the crowd grew even louder, obviously her tango wasn't as rusty as she thought. He toke her hand and led her from the floor back to the group of friends. Collet, Sophie and Robert were exchanging a look of understanding. Fache was _very_ interested in Katherine. And it appeared that she was returning that interest. It would be interesting to see what the future would bring.

Chapter 1

Katherine did sleep well that night, though her dreams were filled with the tango she danced with Bezu. She rarely had any interest in dating, but she was just drawn to him. He seemed to be so alike and yet so different from herself. His nickname the Bull seemed oddly appropriate and yet he was a true gentleman last night. When she woke she felt more rested then she had been in a long time.

Soon after taking a shower her phone rang, "Hello?"

"Katherine, its Sophie. We need your help on a case. A murder has occurred and it is under very unusual circumstances. Captain Fache and Lt. Collet led the investigation. They want your assistance. They've also asked Robert to help as well. How long would it take you to get to Bois de Boulogne?"

"Give me half an hour to get there." Katherine said in total seriousness her mind rapidly coming up with potential reason why the investigation would need a Professor of Religious Symbology, a cryptographer, and a foreign criminalist.

888888888888888

When she arrived Lt Collet was waiting for her. He quickly guided her behind the tape and to the scene. Standing together was Fache, Sophie and Robert. Fache noticed her arrival and moved to greet her.

"I am sorry to interrupt your day in such a fashion but this scene is unique and I wish to have an informed opinion and profile gathered as to the perpetrator as soon as possible." He bowed his head slightly and led her to the group.

"I take it that this is not the first time you have seen his handy work." Katherine's face and voice were hard and extremely controlled.

"Unfortunately no. This is the fourth we have connected to this criminal, there maybe even more out there. We need to catch him quickly. The time between each crime is shrinking. I fear he maybe a serial rapist and murderer." Fache too looked serious as he said this and led them to the body.

It was a young woman who had been brutally beaten and cut up. Her face was twisted unnaturally, locked in a look of pure terror. Whip marks cress crossed her body, no part was left unbeaten or marred. Carved symbols were scrawled about various places. Her body displayed in a provocative pose. It was an image of pure torture.

"As you can see she faced much pain before death. We need to know what the symbols mean and the potential significance to the killer." Lt. Collet raised his handkerchief to cover his nose and mouth, looking slightly green.

"Has the coroner determined time of death?" Katherine looked at the body clinically.

"Yes, she died approximately four days ago." Fache watched her examination of the scene.

"Have the CSI's already collected evidence?"

"CSI?" Collet questioned.

"Crime science investigators. The forensic team." Katherine elaborated.

"Oh…yes, yes. Everything has been taken care of in that regard." Collet muttered.

"Really then why didn't they get these fibers from her underarms?" She pointed to a set of small white fibers that were snuggly in the armpit.

"Merde! Le médecin légiste! Trouver-y!" Fache shouted. (_Shit! Forensics! Get this!)_ A young agent rushed forward with a small evidence envelope quickly gathering the fibers.

"Gants en caoutchouc!" Katherine ordered. _(Plastic gloves!)_ The agent looked to Fache who nodded and then handed her plastic gloves. She put them on and the turned the woman's head. A wound became more noticeable, slowly Katherine examined the would before grasping something and began to pull. The agent tried to stop her but froze when Fache told him to back off. The object turned out to be a pointed long black stone. She examined the stone briefly before handing it over. "Flint knife."

"Flint? Like the stone?" Sophie questioned.

"Yes. In Egyptian mythology, flint was the symbol for protection and retribution. With hieroglyphics, they used to depict dangerous animals like scorpions and snakes being cut with flint knives in order to render them powerless. But this killer snapped the handle off. Snapping the handles also common in prison shankings. Break it off, other guy can't pull the blade out."

"So this person wanted the blade to remain?"

"That would be most likely."

"Professor, what about the symbols?" Fache turned to Robert.

"Well they are a mixture of Roman and Norse runes. The exact meaning would take time to piece together but an educated guess is they were used for a ritual like purpose. This series here…" Robert pointed to a series of symbols above the left breast. "Are used in worship to the old gods for various reasons. More specifically fame, fortune, power and such."

"They used this poor woman like that for such a stupid meaning?" Fache barked irritably.

"Not exactly. It was used during ritual sacrifice to Cronus or one of the other pantheons. The sacrifice was always young, attractive and most definitely human." Katherine interrupted. "I've come across a few crime scenes that people have tried to recreate such things….Unfortunately."

"But these symbols can be translated?"

"Yes, if Robert and I can't do it then I know a few people who could help. And know to keep there mouths shut." Katherine nodded rising up to stand fully.

"What do you need to do this?"

"Picture's of the symbols and there locations on the body. We'll need to diagram where they are and in what order to decipher it correctly. To put it in the proper context." Katherine said as she looked back at the body. "This may take little while, but hopefully before we get another body."

88888888888888888

"The language portions of the runes are Katherine's area as she is a linguist. While I cover the symbology of them. Thus far the symbology follows what I had thought earlier, they are derived from rituals used in what is considered darker magic in some faiths." Robert addressed the gathered unit. "Today it is most call Satanism. In it's simplistic fashion this is the belief that the taking of life or inflicting pain will cause the one who commits these crimes will gain some power, abilities or wealth from the rituals that are being performed."

Katherine toke over, "The language in the runes is as follows:

_Heed me thou who is darker then dusk_

_Heed me thou that is more red then blood_

_In bottom of the sacred abyss that is eternal_

_I summon thee master of darkness_

_Infuse me with power let your strength become mine_

_To deliver doom until all mine enemies equally_

"True Satan worship?" One agent bit out.

"At least what they believe to Satanism. Most of those who supposedly practices 'Satanism' are merely what the Vatican called devil worship back in the day during the time of witch burnings. Sacrifices equal power." Katherine described.

"So they think that this will grant them _something_." Collet emphasized.

"Correct."

"But how does that help us catch this killer?" a younger agent piped up.

"In order to perform rituals, you will need the rituals components. Those components can include herbs, candles of specific ingredients, specialized animal or even human parts, a sacrifice of some sort. In this case it would be a person. The tricky thing is that most high level 'sacrifices' have to be virginal. Pure. And more often then not female. That limits things down to specific groups. Young girls or women. Possibly even those who have joined or would join things like the nunneries."

"That does narrow it some what." Collet observed.

"But it can get even narrower. You see such types of people _would_ be missed because of such youth or inclinations. Which means it would be reported to _someone_, including police or agencies. There will be a record somewhere. Especially if the sacrifices are children. This individual is able to attract the types of sacrifice he or she wants, keep them comfortable around them, put them at ease and get them to learn to trust them on some level. Then when they have made the final selection they go for their target. Most likely keeping them in a secure location until the sacrifice. More often then not, they ensure that the sacrifice would not be able to determine where they are being held through some sort of sensory deprivation. With the deprivation the victim would most likely hope that by becoming complacent they will be released eventually." Katherine said obviously slipping into profiler mode.

"What kind of sensory deprivation?" Fache asked leaning on a desk.

"Probably blindness while being bound in some fashion. That seems to be the average operandi of this type of individual." Katherine elaborated further. "Secure location means something that is controlled by the perpetrator. Most of the time it will be in controlled abandoned structures. While it is possible to be held in a person's house, it is a rather small chance. Still worth investigation if evidence supports the location."

Fache rose from the desk turning towards the other agents. "Get to it. We needed this information days ago. It's time we earn our keep." Many nodded seriously and rushed to their desks or off to other parts of the offices. "Thank you both for your help. If you would be willing to continue your involvement it would be appreciated." Robert merely nodded in agreement, while Katherine sighed taking a card out of her wallet and handing it to Fache. He toke the card, looked at it….and looked at it longer before looking at her. "Diplomatic immunity! You have diplomatic immunity!" Some of the agents closest to them seemed to stumble or freeze shortly.

"I showed it to you so you understand how far my authority can reach." She sighed looking at his shocked expression but his face returned to its professional mask.

"Authority?"

"What I'm willing to do to get the job done right." Katherine's own face became hardened, her voice ice cold, and her eyes gain the promise of pain or death. This was a true professional in the world. "There are things that cannot be spoken of, there are things that no civilian can know about the world around them. I fought to protect them, to give them some peace and semblance of a 'normal' life. Hunting a murdering sociopath is the least of things I could do for France. I will do what needs to be done regardless of what the political would want." Katherine toke the card placing it back in her wallet and then into her purse. She walked away from Fache and began examining the evidence boards.

"She's seen the darkest parts of the world many times." Roberts voice broke through many peoples thoughts. "Part of the reason she is so protective of those who are innocent is because she had to lose her own so young. She had to face the darkness and gave up any semblance of a 'normal' life. She chooses to protect even if it means her life."

"But why?" Sophie asked softly.

"Because those who she comes to care for, to protect, become like family. Like the family she lost." Robert faced gained a pained look. "She was working with the FBI when an emergency alarm in her family's home went off. Her entire family was there for a reunion from the youngest child to the oldest man. A team from Quantico went with her. They found every last one of them dead. Many were beaten, tortured and raped. ….Even her adopted daughter."

Fache whipped around to look at him, "Her daughter?"

"Beaten badly and raped. You can imagine some of the pain she has from that. After that she went to Mortati and John Paul for counseling. They were the only ones she trusted for that. She trusted they're silence. Once she was through enough of it she through herself into work, specifically criminal captures. The really evil types. Nuclear, Bio-Terrorism, Assassination attempts, mass murderers, sociopaths. She even toke seven bullets to protect Queen Elizabeth. It became her life's mission to hunt down as many as she could or die trying."

"Titled by inheritance and by deed." Fache muttered. "That's what they meant."

"Yes, that's what they meant. She's been through a lot, but she's mostly retired from the field now. Earned too much of a name if you know what I mean."

'_Her adopted daughter, but her child none the less. This explains some of the pain in her eyes. Is this why I am drawn to her?'_ Fache thought to himself as he moved to his office.

Chapter 2

Unfortunately within the next day there was a new victim, a new body for the investigation. The group was looking at a newly carved sacrificial body of a young girl. Her long light blond hair was free flowing around her shoulders. If it were not the look a torture upon her face once would say she was a true angel. But that look toke all consideration of angelica from their minds.

"How old?" Katherine asked to no one in particular.

"Thirteen." Collet whispered.

"Same MO. But slight variation to the rune lines. If…and I do mean if we are able to narrow down which sect that would further narrow the field a bit." Katherine moved about direct the forensics' camera angles to get clearer images of the carvings. She was obviously trying to keep her emotions out the way but it still seemed to affect her slightly.

"Your right." Robert muttered as he maneuvered around the crew gathering evidence. "This seems to be more toward a member of the pantheon, more specifically Janus."

"The deity god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings. Though he was usually depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions. His two faces, originally, one was always bearded, one clean-shaven; later both bearded. Also originally represented the sun and the moon, and he was usually shown with a key. The two-faced image of Janus was often depicted on coins of the Roman Republic. January is named after him" Katherine muttered as she moved about scene herself. "That does narrow the field a little."

"Janus was frequently used to symbolize change and transitions such as the progression of future to past, of one condition to another, of one vision to another, the growing up of young people, and of one universe to another. He was also known as the figure representing time he could see into the past with one face and into the future with the other. Hence, Janus was worshipped at the beginnings of the harvest and planting times, as well as marriages, births and other beginnings. He was representative of the middle ground between barbarity and civilization, rural country and urban cities, and youth and adulthood." Robert added thoughtfully.

"So what does all this mean?" Fache questioned.

"Janus was sometimes seen as a powerful god that brought chaos. For the other deities and their followers, chaos meant the destruction of their power. So any follows of Janus or Chaos had to remain more hidden in their worship. Most times they wore concealing masks and other disguises for rituals or festivals. Most rituals are said to involve some sort of sacrifice." Katherine explained.

"So these followers, if revealed to others would be ostracizes but also know so they could be separated from the rest."

"Correct." Robert and Katherine said at the same time.

"Once we get back to head quarters let me contact a few folks to get the word out about who we're looking for, and why. That could get us more information than most police interrogations could yield." Katherine offered to Fache, who seemed to consider it before nodding.

88888888888888

With an hour and a half of them returning to head quarters, Katherine was printing out copies of files for the whole team. After stapling the packets together and gathering the others, they seemed a little down trodden from this latest victim but no less determined.

"I was right to contact my contacts in Wicca faiths. They managed to piece together lists of those that are or believed to be followers of Janus. A couple of the high priests or priestesses have even managed to give what we call danger levels. Level five being the weakest and level one the highest. These danger levels come with a basic description of how far these people may be willing to go in there rituals. These ratings are merely estimations of potential levels, not actual. So be careful and try not to provoke any of them. A little sugar with these people will go a long way. Maybe get even more information or potential contacts. Be careful." Katherine emphasized.

"Follow the leads and Lady Katherine's suggestions for now. She has more experience handling these people then most." Fache ordered and everyone once again sprung into action. He turned to her, "You need rest, use the couch in my office to catch some sleep as I do not believe we could convince you to return to your hotel."

She studied him with narrow eyes before sighing, "Sure."

8888888888888888

She was only able to sleep an hour or two before the nightmares of the past returned again. Seeing her own daughter in all but blood in such a similar scene, it tore her apart. She felt like she had failed Carissa. Failed to protect her when she, and the rest of her family, needed her the most. The pain, humiliation and shame they must have felt before death. It was like it was on her ten fold for it.

Fache heard her slight whimpers as he stood reviewing evidence boards near the door to his office. He walked in and to her side within a moment. Moving to wake her but found that she awoke herself. He merely held her as she trembled. As small tears feel down her face.

He said nothing.

And just held her.

Slowly she gained control once more. Fache still said nothing, waiting for her to move first. She said nothing but drew herself away from him, standing and moving to look out the window. Before either could speak an agent burst into the room.

"We have a potential lead on who could be the next victim. Agent John Moriana got it."

This made them both all business, going out to where the task force had gathered. A rather young agent was sitting in the center of the group nervously looking about as the others focused on him.

"Well?" Fache barked at the young agent who seemed to jump slightly.

"Now, now Bezu there is no need to terrorize the young man." Katherine said jokingly dispelling some of the tense atmosphere. "Go on."

"Yes ma'am. I went to three of the people on the lists. Told them a little about the case and about the victim's. I thought that would get me farther then being withdrawn might." Katherine nodded smiling slightly and his tension eased further. "All three were willing to give a couple places where the Janus sect likes to poach. Only one place was mentioned by all three. A night club called Belladonna."

It only toke Fache a moment to start giving orders, "I want everything on this club. The owners, investors, employees, regulars, clientele. Everything." Many of the agents gave congratulations and thumbs-up for the lead.

"Good job. Both with the lead and following your instincts Agent Moriana." Katherine smiled slightly at the agent who blushed deeply at the lady's attention. No doubt his friends would be teasing him for a while to come.

Fache merely studied the 'boy' before saying, "You will be responsible for compiling the information on the club. Prove you can do it, and you get on the front of the raid team."

"Yes sir!" The 'boy' jumped out of his chair to join a few other agents at a nearby desk. Getting Fache's approval was hard earned and something of a prize for the young new agents just starting there careers. Even being placed under Fache's direct command was a crowning achievement to them.

"He wishes to please you. To win your approval. They all do even the older and more senior among them." Katherine whispered to him as Fache studied the people around the room.

"He has much yet to learn." Fache replied.

"Everyone must learn something, for that is what can make us wise." She smiled. "If we do not learn then we are the greatest of all fools."

"You speak wise words." Collet commented as he joined them. "Though I must say the lady is correct. They do wish to win your approval."

"And what about you old man." Fache joked.

"They know I have already earned it by putting up with you all these years." Collet smirked at Fache, though both were pleased to hear Katherine's laughter. "Now then, just from the most basic preliminary look. All of the victim's frequented the Belladonna before each of their disappearance. It seems to be a club where the younger ones can hang out in. No doubt there are many predators there."

"Predators I will break if necessary." Katherine's voice once again became cold. She fell into her role as the warrior once more. The two stared at her for a moment as she began to take deep breathes to calm down. Her voice became drained once more, "Going to get more sleep." She moved back into Fache's office, closing the door behind her.

"She is truly unique is she not?" Collet questioned. "You like her. I can see it in your eyes."

"And how does that concern you?" He retorted.

"Be careful where you trod, Captain. For as much passion she can have, she carries twice that in pain. If she can get past that pain, who knows how she would wear you out." Collet's voice at the beginning was serious but soon turned light, because he had actually managed to make Fache blush slightly. For his supposed experience, Fache understood the innuendo for what it was. And he had no doubt that it could be true.

Chapter 3

With this one lead, more consistencies and connections began to surface between the victims. All the young women or girls attended the same school, the Private school called The Rose of Versailles Academy. It was a middle school, high school and graduate school combined. It had only recently opened three years ago and meant to be a school for the rich and elite. But that didn't mean it was invulnerable. Kids loved to rebel. And that is what made Belladonna such a favorite in the crowd.

"Instead of storming the club and casing mass panic, we're going to send some of our younger agents in to take a look around. It will be their job to spot who, how old, and what is going on. Lady Katherine has agreed to go in for a female presence there. Dress down towards the college ages. We'll set up a post here," Fache pointed at a street on the map. "The Lady and all agents will wear devices for sound and record purposes. Back up weapons only. You have one hour, then we move." The group broke going there separate ways to get ready.

"I'll need to change clothes." Katherine said as she met Fache gaze.

Fache nodded, "Collet, take the Lady to her hotels to change, then rendezvous at the post."

"Yes sir."

8888888888888888888888

"Holy shit!" One of the younger male agents gasped, jaw dropped, and eyes bulging from their sockets. The others in the task force followed his gaze, and soon joined him in shock. Even Fache. Standing there putting on a wire and ear piece, was Lady Katherine. Only she didn't look very lady like. Clad in skin tight leather pants and an equally tight black silk shirt, it was obvious that she wasn't wearing underwear because there was no way to hide them. Her hair pulled into a high pony tail. What make up she may have had on made her face glow like an angel might. She was the modern seductress.

Once done with the wire she nodded too many before going down to the club. Music boomed through the communications speakers. They could hear the shouting of the people, some very vulgar. Some directed at Katherine now. Fache's jaw clenched at the audacity of those he heard. Collet merely smirked behind his back.

"I see someone with the Janus symbol pendant." Moriana's voice came through on his mike. "Early twenty's, short blonde hair, dark eyes. Approximately five foot eight. Blue jeans, dark shirt with a black jean jacket. The pendant is silver and gold."

"I see him." Katherine muttered. "Shit, he's got a young girl with him. She could be the next one. She can't be more then fourteen or fifteen. I'm going to bait and trap. I'll try and get him out the back of the club one way or another."

Fache rapidly turned to walk out the post while giving orders, "I want ten men with me at the back of the club. Have the others continue looking for any more of these Janus followers. Let none of them get out in any way. I want them alive and relatively unharmed. Kill only if absolutely necessary!"

Fache and his team ran around to the rear exit of the club and positioned themselves appropriately with their weapons drawn. Through their ear piece's they could hear Katherine chatting with the man, drawing him back to them. When the door opened they snapped up from their places aiming for the perp, but he grabbed Katherine using her as a shield. She remained relaxed, and merely grabbed his arm flipping him onto his backside and moving rapidly out of the way for the agents to make the arrest.

"I need to go back in."

"No, we have him." Fache said vehemently.

"Janus followers always work in two's. It's a sign of respect for the two faces of Janus. There is another one in there some where. We have to get them before the get another sacrifice hooked." Katherine stared him in the eye.

He cursed, "Fine but you bring them back here to us like this one. And the agents inside must stay to give back-up."

"Agreed." She nodded before going back in. He continued cursing for a few moments as the other agents dragged the man off to a new by car. He finally calmed slightly though still growled every now and then as the agents retook their positions. They soon heard her curse, "Crap the partner is female. Moriana catch her attention, let her know your _girlfriend_ wants her _assistance_ because it's that time of the month. They don't actually have restrooms in this building so the only private place is the very back of the club. We can get her more easily there."

"Yes ma'am." Moriana moved around looking slightly panicked before seeming to focus in on the girl he wanted. "I am really sorry but….um…my girlfriend…. It's her..um..you know could you possibly help her. God this is awkward."

"Sure, where is she?" The girl smiled slightly.

"She said and I quote, 'Where people can't see me right now.'" Moriana looked sheepish before pointing to the back of the club. "I think she went that way. Could I…um…stay here? Please?"

"I will tell her you had to go looking for supplies." She chuckled at his apparent relief. "Haven't been together long have you?"

"No, we kind of agreed to wait, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, admirable. I'll go check on her."

"Thanks." He grinned as she moved off. Though the grin was more for the fact that he pulled off this little act. The guys in his ear piece were encouraging for him before Fache called for radio silence. The other three agents were making there way to the back of the club just in case. It ended up not being necessary. Katherine already had her in cuff's and leading her out the back door to the others.

"You bitch! Do you think _his_ work would end like this!" The girl cried out vehemently. "You don't understand!"

"No _you_ don't!" Katherine growled at her menacingly. "What you are trying to do, murdering those kids, those girls. Janus won't answer your supposed call. There is no power!"

"How would you know?! How?!"

"Because I'm the one that found the Tiamat followers!" She screamed at the girl who froze. Everyone had heard of how the Tiamat's were found. What the forensics had determined had happened. To see it with your own eyes. "A girl your age lived just long enough to describe what happened. Their vaulted leader _sacrificed them all_!" She got into the girls face. "You want to know what he did after that? He went spending their money in Vegas, picking up hookers no older then you." The girl remained frozen even as the agents dragged her off to a squad car. Katherine grabbed a metal crate and hurled it across the ally. "God damn it!"

The agents froze up, seeing a pissed off Lady Katherine was not very pretty. She seemed so angered but also so controlled. That level of control during such emotional swings of anger were frightening to say the least. Especially that display of physical strength as well.

Fache came up to slowly. "Katherine, I need you calm. You have to help with the interrogation. You can truly get inside there heads right now, I can't." Katherine began taking deep breathes and closed her eyes. Slowly she opened them again, her gaze still hardened but now calmed. She merely nodded to him, which he returned.

8888888888888888

"Put them together." Katherine ordered.

"But they would make up a story together." Collet protested.

"Not after I told her of Tiamat. Part of the reason people are more willing to talk to me of the various sect's is because I am the one who found them. I ordered their bodies be given the proper ceremonies and rights. It earned me some respect. If they are members of any sect in the world, they'll know. It's just a matter of time that this sinks in, and they start talking. But in order for them both to talk, he has to find out from one of his own. The girl is the way to do that." Katherine sighed leaning back in the seat tiredly.

Fache studied the video feed in the cell rooms for a moment. "Do as she says. Her expertise got us this far, let's see how much farther it can go."

"Yes sir." Collet shuffled off talking into his radio.

"What happened at this Tiamat sect?" Fache asked as he sat next to her.

"The sect had gathered a lot of followers for its kind. Nearly three hundred people. Build there own little town and everything, One guy set himself up as the priest of the great Tiamat, meant to rule over all and worship her name. Well he set things up so that they would begin human sacrifice so that through one she may take on a human form. So girl after girl was sacrificed. It was around that time we found out the High priest was dosing everyone some really weird cocktails of drugs. Lord knows what they were. Then the guy said everyone must sacrifice themselves for the good of Tiamat. And they did."

"They committed suicide?"

"No. First the children were killed by slitting there throats. Then people toke turns killing off the one's who did not wish to die. The women stabbed each other to death. The men killed themselves by going on their own blades. It toke time for many to die. They bled out. I found out about their location when all this was occurring. By the time I got there only one young girl was left alive, and it was too late to save her. She recorded a copy of her story onto a device. She gave it to me before she died. It's what helped to put that murdering bastard on death row." Katherine grimaced at the memory. She pulled a small cassette player from her pocket. "I still have a copy of it. Brought it with me so they could here what they are really getting themselves into."

Fache studied her for a few moments before saying, "Get some rest. We'll let them stew for a little while. I'll wake you when it's time."

"I'm not the only one who needs rest, Fache. You're not looking so good yourself." She chuckled at the look he gave her. "Alright, alright. But you need to get some sleep as well." She glared at him until he nodded and then went into his office to lay down.

Chapter 4

He didn't take his rest. At least not sleep. He watched over her while doing paperwork. It wasn't more then a few hours when the two detainees asked to speak with Katherine. Now he was forced to wake her once more. She seemed to finally sleep peacefully for once. But a promise was a promise.

"Katherine." He touched her shoulder and soon found a knife to his neck. He could tell that it was an instinctive reaction, so he kept still until her eyes cleared and removed the knife. He pretended it never happened. "They are asking for you."

"Okay." She stood placing the knife back in its sheath. "Sorry about that. Been caught behind enemy lines to often."

"It's alright since I am not hurt. But next time I would like to keep the throat intact if you please." Fache joked and Katherine shook her head chuckling. "Let's go."

8888888888888888888

Katherine sat across from the two watching their expressions as the tape ended. They had looks of horror and disgust about them. She stopped the tape and rewound it to the beginning before putting it into her back pocket. Fache stood behind her leaning back against the wall.

"You….you really found them?" the young boy stuttered.

"Yes. The tape merely helps give proof of what I say. Now what are your names?"

The boy hesitated, "Morgan. Morgan Chanique."

"Jacqueline Mondego." She followed quickly, her face still slightly green.

"Were you a part of the ceremonies that involved these girls?" Fache asked slamming the crime scene photos onto the table. The two jumped slightly before looking down. They seemed to become even more horrified.

"NO!" Jacqueline shrieked. "We….They told us we weren't devoted enough to join the ceremonies. That we still had to prove ourselves. We…we thought if we found the next blessing join but…but they told us they were setting the girls free not _killing_ them."

"Are you willing to tell us everything?" Katherine asked and the pair once again hesitated. "It would go a long way with the judges to show your cooperation to help end this."

"You'd really talk to the judge for us?"

"As a captain in the DCPJ, I give you my word to speak with our prosecutors to get a lesser sentence if any is given." Fache promised. The two looked at each other briefly before both nodded. "Good, but you must tell us about everything that happened and everyone involved. Leave no detail out because that could save more lives."

"We were approached together, after school by one of the older girls. She's the one that toke us to see the grandmaster. He calls himself Tanith. He seemed so kind and so caring. He listened to our problems, even gave us advice and when things got tough with our parents, a place we could be together. They didn't approve of our dating. A week or two ago Tanith offered to let us join but that we had to prove ourselves. He said he wished to help more people, that we had to gather them and bring them to speak with him. He promised to set them free after the blessings were done. He _never_ said anything about killing them, I swear!" Jacqueline sobbed as she began to cry.

"This Tanith, what does he look like?" Fache questioned.

"I…I have a picture…in my wallet. It was from one of the parties he gives once or twice a month." Morgan stuttered pulling out his wallet slowly from his back pocket. He pulled a picture out of the bill fold and handed it to Katherine. She studied it before passing it back to Fache.

8888888888888888

Hours later Fache and Katherine walked out of the interrogation room, both seemed to be thinking through what they had just heard from Morgan and Jacqueline. The two were so scared and so shocked at the crime scene photo's, that they couldn't have been faking all that.

"I think those two are lucky." Katherine muttered. "They're lucky they aren't too directly involved in what happened. I think they told the truth when they said they hadn't known about the real purpose of the sacrifice's."

Fache nodded, "I agree. But we must move quickly. They could already have another one. With the rate they are now at…"

"The next sacrifice will be soon." Katherine nodded.

Collet came jogging up to them out of breath. "We have an ID on this Tanith character. His real name is Tanith MacKein. He born in Scotland. He came here from England, but how is not known. He was said to be a member of the Apophis sect while it was around. A task force of British and Americans shut down the sect before it got worse then here. He has no record of employment or income, so he is off the grid in that fashion. But the info the kids gave has narrowed it down to an area to three blocks."

"Shit, that Tanith! I thought he looked familiar!" Katherine cursed.

"What is it? You know this man?" Fache questioned.

"I don't know him personally, but I recognize the name at first." Katherine sighed leaning on the window. "I know some people that were on the team. I didn't put two and two together until now. This means only one thing. He's making himself into something to replace Apophis, making himself to be a messiah or god. He was always a nut job. Thank God his brother isn't the same or we'd be screwed."

"He has a brother?"

"A twin. It's so ironic, him _representing_ Janus. Hebron was the good son, got straight A's all his life, very good with other people but respectful of people's beliefs, he was an excellent negotiator and helped out with diplomatic incidents a lot because of that ability. Even took a bullet to protect someone he had grown to despise." She stared out the window. "Tanith though. He was real evil. He constantly used people for his own gain. And for the stupidest reasons sometimes. He once convinced a couple of girls to fight each other over himself. One of the girls used car to run the other one over. She's still in a coma. He is pure evil. You and the other agents have to be willing to shot-to-kill him on site if necessary. And it will most likely be necessary."

"It's that bad?" Sophie asked as she and Robert walked up to them.

"Yes, it's that bad." Katherine sighed leaning her forehead against the window before standing up. "I need to make some calls. Especially if you want to remain the primary on this whole mess."

"There is no other way?" Fache asked.

"If we actually screw up, they'll need to know in order to catch the SOB. I may be able to convince them to merely stay as a back up, but they will want updates regularly. I can handle that if I can persuade them in the first place." Katherine promised. Fache closed his eyes, sighed and then nodded. Katherine pulled out her cell phone and went into his office.

88888888888888888

"Cheyenne Mountain switch board. Airman Tucker speaking." A man's voice drowned out.

"This is Lady Katherine Evans, get me General Hammond and SG-1." She smirked as she heard the airman begin to freak out before the phone began to ring again, obviously going through to the office.

"This is Hammond, Lady Evans, we have you on speaker phone in the conference room. What is the situation?"

"I have the unfortunate displeasure to inform you that Tanith is in France at the moment." Katherine smirked at the reactions she could hear. Jack and Daniel were cursing fluently (and considering Daniel's linguistic abilities that is an accomplishment), Teal'c was making growling noises, while Hammond and Sam made noises of surprise. "I don't need you to come here just yet. The DCPJ have the primary on the case, I am working with them. I'll keep you apprised of any news."

"Case?" She heard Jack O'Neill snap.

"They originally brought me in on serial killer case. Ritualistic killings as well. It appears Tanith is the grand master and high priest of Janus." More cursing could be heard. "As I have said, we get primary."

"You truly believe you'll be able to do this alone?" Hammond asked.

"Yes. And I promise to keep giving regular updates, but we get the ball. I'll know if anyone comes a knocking without permission too."

"Very well. Contact us every four hours please. Hammond out."

Katherine laughed as she heard SG-1's protests before Hammond hung up. She marched back out of the office where the task force was gathered having received updates from Fache and Collet. "We have primary but I have to give updates regularly."

"Very well." Fache nodded. "We narrowed the possible locations down to four buildings. We're going to do simultaneous raids on all of them at once. Katherine and I will lead the raid on building one. Collet will lead the raid on building two. Neveu will lead the raid on three. Moriana will lead the raid on four. Everyone has one hour, then we go. Stun if you can, kill only when absolutely necessary."

8888888888888888888

Chapter 5

Looking at the first target, she sighed. _'What is it with evil people and opulent homes or temples? Then there is the whole prepare to meet you doom thing. How cliché can you get?'_

"This is a little, how do you say, fancy?" One the other agents commented.

"Right up his ally too." She chuckled at the looks off confusion. "It's his style." Looks of understanding finally crossed their faces. Fache signaled them to go silent and they focused on the mission at hand. They slowly moved forward while remaining as low to the ground as possible, spreading out in a V formation before going into teams of four. Katherine and Face went with the door entry teams. After receiving a message that all teams for all the targets were in position, a countdown began..

"5….4….3….2….1….Now!"

The door was bashed in quickly and the DCPJ's SWAT team led the way in. They used stun guns with a vengeance on the followers who came rushing down the hallway. Swiping through the first floor was relatively simple. The second floor however was full of screaming girls and women. The men froze not knowing what to due until Katherine motioned for them to sweep else where.

She drew in a breathe after the all-clear was given, "SILENCE!" She bellowed and everyone there just shut-up. "Now then where is that little shit Tanith?"

"We won't betray him!" One girl tried to say defiantly.

"Okay, history 101. I'm the one who found the Tiamat's. Yes that one. I have found out that Tanith is a self absorbed bigoted a-hole who likes to rape and murder young girls. He has been using you for his own pleasure not for any holy purpose. Got it?"

"Your lying!" Another girl cried.

Katherine sighed before pull a pendant from around her neck and showing the group. They froze, jaws dropped and eyes widened. "You know it take the unanimous agreement of the leaders of the council sects to gift this to anyone. I was given this after the Tiamat incident. Do you still think I lie?"

Many of the girls began to break down and cry making the agents feel uncomfortable. Crying girls were so difficult to deal with that none of the men knew how to react. Katherine merely stood there for a few moments.

"Now then. Where is Tanith?"

A young blond haired girl hiccupped before answering, "He was going to perform another ceremony."

Everyone on the raid teams froze up. "Where?"

"I don't know! He wouldn't tell any of us!" She cried. "He toke his personal guards with him. There's six or seven of them. Left not more then a half-hour ago!"

"Shit." Fache cursed before getting on the radio. There were more people at the other locations but none knew where he had gone. Only that he left in his caravan. They did manage to get a description of the various vehicles that made up the caravan and who would his personal guards but nothing else. They called in a DCPJ team to debrief everyone and gather information when another radio transmission came in.

"We have his second-in-command!" Moriana voice shouted through the mike loudly. Katherine and Fache looked at each other before taking off down the hallway's, out the house and into a car that was parked out front. Fache hit the gas pedal even before Katherine's door shut. Blaring the sirens and lights flashing, they sped down the street to the fourth target. Slamming on the brakes and sliding he hastily put it in park just as Katherine bolted out the door. He followed her as she ran through the building to where they had held the man in question. She grabbed him slamming him back against the wall.

"Where is he?!" She roared at him, her eyes going once more to that of the warrior she once was. Her eyes seemed to go cold and void of emotion, promising pain and death. He now truly knew fear, for it was in her eyes. "Where?" She bellowed again.

"The ceremony's at the panicle of Bois de Vincennes. At the sacred hall of the Château de Vincennes!"

"How many?"

"Tanith, his personal guard, the high priestess and the blessings."

"How many blessings?" She questioned and he looked reluctant. "How many?!"

"Three!" He stuttered. She punched him braking his nose before throwing him to Moriana.

Fache merely started heading out the door with her, shouting orders as they went. "I want as many men for back up as possible! Tell the specialized team to get out there and take up positions. And tell Collet to get his ass there too!"

Once again they were blasting through the streets of Paris. No words were needed between them. They merely focused on the task at hand, saving the girls who were to be sacrificed. Soon more cars joined there mad dash through the city and blasted into the Bois de Vincennes heading straight to the chateau. Thankfully the park and area around the chateau were empty. They plowed straight to the doors.

Dozens of agents dashed from their cars and into the chateau, plowing down the halls through the chateau to the chapel rooms. There they were met by the armed guards. Dispensing with formality, Fache and Katherine picked there targets and quickly toke care of them. The swat team plowed through the doors and into the chambers where the rest were. The rest of them were quickly apprehended and secured with as few injuries as possible. Katherine looked to the robed male figure in the center of the group.

"That's Tanith. Keep him under guard here. I need to ask him a few questions. Get Sophie and another female officer here for the girls, they will feel more comfortable." Katherine barked at the swat team, Fache nodded to them when they looked to him. She moved over to where three girls were bound and crying. She whispered to them, "It's alright but I need you to stay still while I uncut you and check for injuries. Okay?"

The three girls nodded quickly. Slowly Katherine freed each of them, looked them over then wrapped blankets around their naked forms. Sophie and another female agent quickly came up and toke them off to go to the hospital for a more through examination. She quickly turned to Tanith, hauled him up and into a side room before slamming the door shut and locking it. Several began banging on the door, ordering her to open it once more. Fache merely called them off. They could do nothing for Tanith with Katherine's diplomatic immunity in place. They could hear movement and raised voices. Finally almost an hour later, the door opened once more. Tanith came out first, looking rather beaten up, followed by Katherine. An extremely pissed off Katherine.

"He has to answer for his crime before America, England, and France. He must answer to English and American laws first. France will get there piece later if he is not sentenced to death there first."

"Very well. But he had best face true justice, one way or another." Fache demanded and the agents understood what they truly meant. Katherine nodded, ordered them to gag Tanith before taking out her cell phone.

"Pick up needed! Yes, DCPJ has them at the Chateau de Vincennes. I'll stay with the little shit for now. Have Devon do the pick up, he's in the area." She closed her cell before taking a seat and stared at Tanith unflinchingly. Fache merely toke a seat next to her and joined her in her staring. The others realized this may take a little while for someone to come and get him. Just from looking at each other alone they knew they would never be able to know what would truly happen to Tanith. And they truly did not care after seeing his previous handy work and the girls he would have murdered this night.

88888888888888888

It took two and a half hours for this Devon to come. And even then they really only saw that he was a very large black man dressed in black military fatigues. Katherine and Devon exchanged a few whispers before he nodded and grabbed Tanith, literally hauling him over his shoulder after knocking him out cold.

Fache put his hand on Katherine's shoulder and she turned to look at him. He could see the exhaustion in her eye's though it was no where else. "Let me take you to your hotel. You can take some rest. I'll call you about the paperwork some other time, yes?"

She seemed to study him before finally nodding. The two walked out of the chateau calmly and climbed into a car. The drive was made in silence, neither spoke even as Fache pulled up to the valet. Both climbed out and walked through the lobby to the private elevator reserved for the highest clientele. Finally opening the door to her suite she turned to him.

"Did you wish to have a drink?"

Fache calmly studied her for a moment before nodding. "I would be honored." She merely stepped aside to allow him entry before closing the door. She lead him into the suite's parlor. Going over to the bar, she made two whiskey's and handed one to Fache who merely toke it without comment.

"I rarely touch alcohol any more, I normally think of it as a weakness but I feel I could use it tonight. I know you have questions, Bezu. If I may call you by your first name." She sipped as he nodded.

"Did you really send him to trial?"

"Yes, a trial by tribunal but a trial none the less. I would have taken care of him in the side room if I wasn't going to allow it to be held in the first place." She studied her glass. "I'm retired in certain arenas as I think Robert has explained to you a while ago."

"He mentioned what happened to your family…your daughter." He watched her. "I hope you do not mind my mentioning her. But this case reminds you of her death?"

"All to well. Another?"

"Yes please." He read the signs, he could see some of her attraction to him now. It was hidden so well before.

"Collet cornered me at the headquarters. He is very protective of you. He only wanted to know whether or not I like to screw everything in sight or if I'm...selective of who I take to my bed."

Fache took another large swallow of the warming liquid. "And?"

"I'm selective."

Fache didn't want to waste any more time upon hearing that. His instinct told him that Katherine was honest and that was all he needed. He stood up, smoothing down his jacket and walked up behind her and looked over Katherine's shoulder, making her pause in her actions. Fache pressed his face close to Katherine's neck and took a deep breath through his nose, inhaling the scent of the light perfume she had put on so many hours ago when all this began. He liked it, though he couldn't place it. A rose and lilac. Mild. Nice. It made him harder. Fache suddenly wanted her even more than he did two minutes ago. More then hours ago.

"What do you want from me?" His hands rested on the sides of Katherine's hips.

Without turning around, Katherine simply turned her head slightly, then closed her eyes as Fache encircled her waist with his arms, one hand cupping a breast. "I was wondering if you'd spend the night with me," she asked, becoming breathless.

Fache ran his lips along the side of her neck as his hands opened Katherine's silk shirt and ran over the exposed smooth skin of the woman's chest. He smiled when he felt Katherine shiver as goose bumps formed on her skin. He moved his mouth to the other side of her neck, giving soft kisses along the tense muscles as his hands sought out the woman's already erect nipples. Fache's pinching caresses made Katherine shudder and gasp softly. Fache's hand slid down her abdomen and slowly, seductively cupped her center caressing firmly. Katherine dropped the glass back onto the table and her hands came up and found Fache's neck, then his hair, before she locked her fingers together behind Fache's neck.

"The whole night?" Fache asked, his caresses pulling gasps from Katherine's throat. He smiled against Katherine's neck as the woman panted through a shudder.

"Yes." She swiftly turned in Fache's arms, her hands coming up to the sides of Fache's face, and brought her lips to Fache's in a fiery, hungry kiss.

Fache moaned and tightened his arms as his tongue wrestled with Katherine's. He pulled away suddenly, grabbing Katherine around her waist.

"Never mind the drink," he whispered huskily. "As for spending the night, I accept. Right now, let's get somewhere more comfortable," and he pulled Katherine into the bedroom.

88888888888888888

Chapter 6

Bezu watched her after she fell asleep, she was so beautiful, so peaceful. It had taken hours before she would rest but he did not complain. She made him feel alive in more ways then one. Young again, as though he were still in his peak of youth. Being with her now seemed to be a blessing. He did not know what he had done to deserve this chance but he would do it a thousand more times if he could. If it meant he could be with her. How could he have come to care for her so much and so quickly?

_'It must be fate. How funny I now respect it just for bringing her into my life.'_ Fache thought to himself, before kissing her brow and then joining her in slumber.

888888888888888

When she woke it was her time to study him, to watch him as he slept. They were so different from each other sometimes, and yet they could understand each other so well. Last night he had been both aggressive and gentle in turns. He seemed to understand her needs, in more ways then one. And now he was so peaceful in sleep.

_'I don't know what brought you into my life. But I'll fight for every moment I can keep you in it. I swear.'_ She smiled at the thought, before giving him a very _special_ wake up call. And did he enjoy it.

"Now this is most definitely an excellent way to start the day. Ma cheri." Bezu chuckled before kissing her deeply.

"I thought you'd enjoy it." She giggled when he let her breathe again. The two merely snuggled for a while longer, both enjoying the others presence. But soon enough Bezu sighed and she knew it was time to rise. "Come on, if we bathe together it will save time." She merely pulled him into the bathroom, not that he was protesting much. She giggled as she saw him come into the shower with her. "Then again we can take some time here too."

He just grinned at her wolfishly. "Yes I do believe we could use a really long bath to finish washing off the grime from yesterday."

"Oh yes, wouldn't want to miss anything now would we?"

888888888888888

It was sight to see when Fache and Katherine walked into headquarters. They were chatting and joking back and forth. Both seemed to be glowing when they looked to each other. The fact that Fache hair and Katherine's long hair was loose and still slightly damp. Collet merely gave a smile of understanding at the image they made.

_'Good. They belong together.'_ Collet thought to himself before kicking the other agents around telling them to get back to work. Fache walked Katherine into his office and closed the door before sitting down next to her on the couch with an arm full of paperwork.

"Oh joy, paperwork." Katherine whined, and Fache chuckled.

"An unfortunate part of the job I'm afraid. But if we get the paperwork done then I will treat you to lunch. A private lunch." Fache offered, enjoying how her eyes lit up.

"Right, where's my half?" She bounced on the sofa slightly. He laughed, a full belly laugh. Many people on the other side of the door, gave it odd looks. Captain Fache never laughs, so why was he laughing now. Collet soon came around shooing them to get back to work, still had that little knowing smile on his face.

8888888888888888

It didn't take until the end of the day for the rest of the DCPJ to find out about Fache and Katherine being together. The fact that they practically acted like newly wed's also helped to reinforce the rumors. They both came into the DCPJ that morning having both _obviously_ taken showers at the same time frame. They both disappeared at lunch together, and reappeared shortly there after together. They addressed each other by first name, often joked back and forth. The list goes on and on.

Needless to say everyone treated the Lady with even more respect. The fact that Fache was seriously into a relationship that had apparently begun such a short while ago, meant it was something very serious. And Collet knocked down anyone who was being uppity towards her because of it. Bets began to circulate around on what could happen, when and how long?

For the next few days it was interesting watching Fache practically float around as he did his work on the various cases. Katherine was coming in and out for 'various reasons' in between her own meetings and appointments. And the two of them being photographed together at more events, as time passed. The nights for the two were most magical. But that peace was not meant to last.

Five days after the capture of Tanith, there was a shooting.

The target?

Katherine.

It was a meeting of diplomats. Peace talks, negotiations, and various arguments. Katherine was one of the mediators with Pope Mortati. They were taking a lunch break and Katherine went out to call Fache when a man came up near her, pulled out his gun and fired several shots at her. She had been hit. As guards secured the shooter, Mortati toke off his white cloak and pressed hit to her wounds to slow the bleeding until paramedics arrived. He also went with her in the ambulance to the hospital and made arrangements for Fache to be aloud to tend to her.

Fache was in the DCPJ offices when he found out.

"WHAT!" Fache screamed into the phone, and those around him froze fearing what may have occurred to bring out this side of Fache once more. "What do you mean Katherine has been SHOT! What is her condition?...Thank god. Which hospital is she at?... Where is the shooter? Do we have him?... Damn straight I'll kill the bastard! DID HE EVEN SAY WHY HE SHOT HER!!!!" Fache roared before slamming the phone down.

"What has happened Captain?" Collet asked slowly, Fache looked ready to kill people slowly and painfully. Many agents were edging away from him in case running was necessary.

"Some bastard shot Katherine at the peace talks. She's in the hospital. They have the bastard in custody." He cursed rather colorfully. "I want armed guards in the hospital, especially her floor. More guards at her suite's for when she can be moved. I want to know the condition of the attacker and what's being done with him. And I want witness statements and evidence reports as of yesterday!!" Fache roared at the agents around him and they rushed into action. Katherine was practically one of there own now, not just from her relationship with Fache but also for her help on the Tanith case. They would do what needed getting done.

Within a couple of minutes, cars blasted down the street with Fache in the lead. Collet merely clamped one hand onto the dash and the other onto the passenger side handle as they made wild turns at fast speeds through the streets of Paris. They pulled up to the hospital and agents jumping from the cars. Fache went up to the first hospital staff he could find.

"WHERE IS LADY KATHERINE EVANS???" He roared and the poor girls moved back in fright.

"Fourth floor I think….But you really shouldn't be going up there unless your family!" She called after him.

"That is her boyfriend, Captain Fache. He is allowed to be with her." Collet told her before following after him. "Moriana place men as you see fit. I'll review it later!"

"Yes sir!"

88888888888888888888

Fache bounded out of the elevator as the doors opened, blasting through the halls until he reached the door that already had guards. He moved to flash his badge when the guards just stepped aside. Apparently they knew he was coming. He said nothing to either one, just nodded as he walked into the room. Katherine looked so pale and tired as she lay on the hospital bed. Pope Mortati was by her bed, he too looked tired though more for exhaustion then anything else.

"Captain Fache, I am glad your here. She has been asking for you each time she woke. The doctors are willing to let her return to the hotel if someone stayed with her. I thought you might wish to be that person. I will give you some privacy. Take good care of her."

"Thank you, your holiness. I give you my word I will do my best to protect her." Fache looked at him with gratitude before going to Katherine's side. Mortati merely smiled at the sight before leaving the room. Katherine slowly woke, blinking her eyes several time before they focused on Fache. Her eyes watered slightly with joy as he hugged her tightly. She returned the embrace holding onto him as a life line. His eyes and voice reflected his fears at seeing her hurt. "Never scare me so badly again, Ma cheri. I don't know where I would be without you in my life."

"I promise to do my best, if you promise the same. Just hold me for a little while." She pleaded. He merely sat with her on the bed and held her in his arms. Each drawing strength of the other's presence. After a few minutes they heard a throat clearing loudly. Turning to the doorway, they could see a male doctor in smocks.

"You must be Captain Fache. I am Doctor John Nelshonu. I operated on the Lady." The two shook hands and the doctor nodded to Katherine briefly. "I am granting the Lady's request to release her to her hotel room, provided she takes all her medication and someone stays with her at all times. His holiness said he believe you would be that person."

"Yes, I will. Are there any instructions for cleaning the wounds and when to take her meds?" Fache asked even as he held onto her.

The doctor handed him some prescriptions papers. "It's all in there. She'll need bed rest for at least tonight. She'll need rest often otherwise, though it would merely be sitting most of the time. She _has_ to take her meds as written there. Someone will need to be with her or near her at all times for the next couple of days. I understand from the Pope that she would get to restless with time, but she had best behave this far or I'm sedating her until she's fully healed."

"Understood. Thank you sir. If you would be willing to ask Lt. Collet to enter please." Fache nodded taking the papers from him. The doctor merely waved him off before saying his good bye's to Katherine and leaving the room. A few moments later Collet knocked on the door, only entering when Fache told him too.

"It is good to hear of your survival from today's shooting. Many of the agents in the DCPJ wished me to extend there hope you would heal quickly. And to let you know the matter is being looked into thoroughly."

"Thank you, Collet. And if you could extend my thanks to the others as well." She smiled tiredly.

"The doctor has given permission to let Katherine go to her hotel for rest…." Fache began.

"He has already told me. I asked some of the men to bring a proper car around and we have cleared the halls of any traffic. They have rules here that Katherine will have to be in a wheel chair until she gets into the car, so I have arranged for Agent Bernette to bring one here. There will be an escort of no less then two cars full of agents. We have also made arrangements for a route into the hotel to her rooms to be cleared for security's sake. The manager has asked I express his promise that any of Katherine's needs or wishes would be tended too." Collet interrupted. Fache looked pleased at his quick response to her needs and security.

Katherine merely smile gratefully once more, "Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get dressed again." Collet nodded and toke his leave, using the opportunity to double check all of the arrangements. Fache helped her dress in a pair of smocks that a nurse had brought up to replace her bloodied clothes the forensics team had taken for evidence. His eyes burned with fury at the wounds she had but soon cleared by focusing on Katherine's needs then the revenge he could gain at anytime. After getting Katherine settled into a wheelchair, he was quickly on his way taking her through the hallways, down the elevator and straight to the waiting car.

Light bulbs flashed from reporters camera's as he lifted her gently off the wheelchair and set her into the car as Agent Bernette pulled the chair out of the way. His tenderness surprised many agents, but seeing the two together in such a moment warmed their hearts. It also made sensational news as far as the reporters were concerned. Collet got into the drivers seat and started the car up. Soon the first car was leading the way to the hotel. As they were on there way Fache held one of her hands gently, she leaned against him, her head on his shoulder. Collet merely smiled gently, they made quite the picture. He had seen the fear in his captain's eyes as they drove to the hospital after he received the call. Seeing the relief now in his face and eyes at being able to hold his lady once more was heart warming for Collet. He feared Fache would not find love, now he realized that fear was not necessary.

Within a few more minutes the caravan of cars pulled up to the front of the hotel, and agents flooded out of both the cars and the hotel. Clearing a path from the cars and into the hotel. Fache could see that there was no wheelchair waiting and apparently from the shouting he could hear someone had forgotten it. He merely got out of the car, and then lifted Katherine out and carried her up the steps to the lobby like any fairy tale princess might be. Light bulbs flashed at this apparently romantic scene, but all Katherine and Fache were doing was focusing on each other. Once inside the lobby the manager came practically running over to them and chattered on and on about what arrangements he had made.

"I apologize for not having a chair waiting and I promise to have the matter thoroughly investigated. I checked over the cleaning of the rooms to ensure nothing was amiss. I have also arranged for you to have your own attendants that will be able to assist with anything you might wish. The DCPJ agents already have rooms near by and are staying compliments of myself and the owner. If you would like we could screen everyone who wishes to meet with the Lady while she heals from this ordeal, just give a list to myself or my assistant."

"Thank you Mr. Jacques. If you do not mind I would prefer to retire for the evening. And see that we are not disturbed tomorrow as well." Katherine said sleepily as Fache made his way to the elevator.

"Of course my lady. Just call if you or your guards need anything." Jacques bowed slightly before turning to Collet to begin the authorized guest lists. Collet knew to leave them be for at least the evening and following morning. Fache carried her all the way to her bed once inside her rooms, assisted her to undress and lay down before stripping and joining her.

"Sleep now, Ma cheri. I will be here." He whispered kissing her forehead. She merely murmured before fall asleep in his arms. He held onto her tightly. _'I could have lost her today. I know she would not like for me to overprotective for very long but I do not wish to lose her. Especially not so soon. I will call in every favor I have to remain by her side for at least the next few days. I can't lose her!...I love her.'_

Chapter 7

Katherine woke slowly, the warmth and presence of Bezu holding her was luxurious. She could feel the dull aches of her wounds and she knew she would at least need a cane for a few days. But the comfort of Bezu's arms around her pushed all that pain away. She snuggled in closer and could feel his chuckle.

"Your awake now, ma cheri. I was beginning to get worried." He said as he kissed her forehead. "It's time for you to take your medicine, okay?"

"Yes, then just want to snuggle." Katherine said sleepily and she once again felt his chuckle. He turned slightly, obviously reaching for something. She toke the pills he handed her with a small glass of water, before laying back down with his arms around her. "Ja t'aime." She whisper as she went to sleep once more.

Fache froze. She said she…loved him. But this happily shocked Fache as he realized the truth in what she said. He held her and looked at her with such tenderness it would have made her cry with joy. He clutched her tightly to him before finally replying, "Ja t'aime, ma cheri."

8888888888888888

When Katherine next woke she could feel Bezu was not with her. She began to panic, looking about wildly and crying, when she heard Bezu's voice and felt him hug her.

"Call down. I am here ma cheri. I am here." He said soothingly to her. She gradually calmed down. When calm once more she looked up to Bezu and could see his warm eyes. "That's it. I had to speak with Collet, I did not mean to leave you for so long." He softly explained. "Would like to go to sit at the couch and eat?"

She nodded slowly, as he stood she moved to the side of the bed before slowly rising her self. He helped her stand and then wrapped an arm around, helping her from the room and to the couch in the sitting area. Collet and two other agents were still there and watched her with some awe as she moved to the couch. They seemed to have expected that she would remain in bed, but she proved them wrong…again. On the coffee table in front of the couch was a tea service, and a rather large bowl of cuts of fruits. She dished up a small helping, signally that they could have some too.

After everyone had there food and taken seats Katherine asks, "What happened with the shooter? Did he explain why I was his target?"

Collet looked to Fache who nodded before say, "He was apparently going after you because of your views on certain matters that would effect his people. He also stated that a woman should know her place and remain in the kitchen."

Katherine snorted into her cup of tea, "Middle Eastern male chauvinism. Predictable. No offenses to any of you intended."

"None taken ma'am." The other two agents mumbled.

"Was there anything else?" She asked sipping on her tea. Just as Collet was going to answer the phone rang.

"Hello?" Bezu Fache answered the phone. "One moment please." He placed his hand over the mike, turned toward Katherine. "It's the Pope. He says it an emergency."

Katherine toke the phone from him, "Hello, Mortati. What's the problem?" As she listened intently her face shifting from one emotion to the next before settling on what could only be pissed off. "I'll be there in a little bit." She slammed the receiver down before beginning to rise.

"What do you mean 'I'll be there in a little bit'? You supposed to be recovering from being shot!" Fache complained.

"Several factions feel this is a good time to try and plow over all the good work and progress we have been making because I'm not there. I refuse to accept that. So I am going! Either help me get around or I'll do it myself, I will not allow more people to die for the stupidest of reasons because some politician has a bur up his ass." She stared down the captain's eyes before he reluctantly nodded.

"Fine, you can go but I will be with you at all times. And you, in the least will be using a cane. I would prefer a wheel chair but I know that you would say no. And you will still take your medicine on time like the doctor ordered." Fache demanded.

"Agreed." Katherine started to make her way to the door but was a little wobbly, Fache came up and placed arm around her for support.

88888888888888888

As they walked down the hall of the Luxembourg Palace to the senate chambers they could hear the shouts and yelling taking place between the 'leaders' of the world. Katherine had chosen a pure white suit and shirt, a white ivory cane helped her to walk, only light make up was applied due to lack of time, still she glowed like an angel might in the light streaming from the windows. Fache redressed in his black suit and grey dress shirt from the previous day. They were as if the yin and yang had met.

The doorman of the senate chambers gawked as they made there way to him. He had seen the lady being shot the day before, he had seen the injuries she had sustained but here she was coming towards him her face set into a hardened mask mirrored by that of her companion. He quickly prepare to open the door on her signal which she gave. Sweeping the doors open he merely bowed as she walked past.

In the senate hall everyone had gone silent as soon as the doors began to open, imagine their shock at who walked through those doors. Silence and awe filled the hall as the Lady Katherine and her _companion_ Captain Bezu Fache walked in and made there way to her seat. Slowly clapping began to fill the hall until it became a thunderous roar. This was the dedication of true leaders, this was the promise that no matter what else may happen she would be there to help guide them all. Finally the cheers began to fade and business once again toke precedent.

"We would like to welcome back Lady Katherine Evans. And wish to express our eternal thanks for your dedication to this conference. We also express our hope that you have a speedy recovery." Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin declared through the microphone at the podium. More applause filled the room.

"Thank you Minister Raffarin. I had heard there was difficulty with the peace talks and wished to return and offer what aid I could in helping solve what dilemmas have arisen." Lady Katherine words were well placed as many seemed to hunch inwards ever so slightly. Fache's eyes seemed to glimmer at this. But all too soon the shouting started once more and Katherine obviously becoming agitated. As she began to draw in a breath Fache covered his ears, the Pope following soon after, it was a needed maneuver. "SILENCE!!!"

All sound the hall stopped as shocked politicians and royals turned to look at her. "With the attack yesterday, my patients is thinning for such trivial arguments is lacking. If you behave as two years olds then I will treat you as one from this moment forward." She glared at many through out the room. "We are here to find peace not to incite wars. The world has seen to many wars as it is, we have no need or wish for any more. I understand that in life there is the good and the bad. No one is perfect nor can any claim perfection no matter how much they wish. Something else I understand is that each life and their voice enriches us and ennobles us. And each voice and life lost diminishes us. No one religion takes precedence over others because who can truly claim that there is only one religion the world must follow. It is these things that can make wars or prevent them. We bleed the same, we are born the same and we can die the same. We have to honor the past and learn from it. But we must look to the future for the generations to come. What future would we give them, peace or war? So choose now what path you will follow. And may whatever gods you pray to have mercy on you for that choice. Choose wisely."

Her words struck a cord in them all. The fact that she openly declared all religious beliefs to be equal to each other was a surprise, especially with who one of her godfathers was but he merely sat there smiling with what could only be considered pride. Many viewed that the lives lost most in recent years could have been prevented if peace had been settled between them. Here was a woman, titled in so many ways, telling them that with every action there would be consequences no matter there choices. But lives could be saved if peace of any sort could be obtained.

"Choose!"

88888888888888888888

Chapter 8

The coming days marked a change in the efforts of the conference members. A good change. Negotiations were underway between countries that once could not stand the thought of being in the same buildings much less the same room. Katherine's recovery was very promising, she seemed to get stronger with each day. Still the days and nights for Fache and Katherine were magical.

When Fache was needed in the office Katherine went with him and assisted on many cases that were waiting. So far their team up in the office setting brought many achievements. Criminals of all types were captured, families were granted a sense of peace, justice was done and cases closed. Katherine did not need to be at the conference for such long periods of time unless there were true emergencies and those were growing to be few and far in between much to her joy. Mortati's patient and calm demeanor helped a great deal towards that. So was able to be with the man she loved and to help him in his work. She remembered telling him once already, afterwards his behavior towards her became all the more tender. She had yet to hear him say the same but she could sense it was there, that was good enough for now.

The other agents at the DCPJ were very polite and helped her whenever they could. Fache had yet to return to the persona of a bull off on the rampage like he was before meeting Katherine. She was always there when anyone needed help, personal private or personal. Helping on various cases in so many divisions. Anything from cryptography, forensic sciences, profiling perpetrators, going through old cases as though they were brand new. So many crimes had been solved that led members of the various divisions putting forth that Fache would need a bigger office with everything the two working on or sifting through.

However one more major case was brought forth, one that could shake the very foundations of the history of the fight for the holy lands and their guardian knights, the Knights Templar. This was not of the holy grail for that was protected. It was for second most treasured secret they protected. A line that not even the Vatican would challenge. The line of sainted warriors. The Chosen.


	2. Part 2

Athena's Daughter

By: Lady Kanko Wildstar

Chapters 9 - 15

Author's note: This is the next installment of the Athena's Daughter series. The first is roughly 8 chapters long. I have no idea how long this one is going to be, so please be patient. Rated M for adult language and scenes. You have been warned. I originally began writing this only since last Monday the 9th, but it has grown to such a length already in just the first part. I ended that on the 19th. Now part two is up. It's something that just got stuck in my head after I finished reading two of Dan Brown's novels: Angel & Demons, and the Da Vinci Code. Hopefully you have enjoyed it thus far.

88888888888888

Chapter 9:

"What do we have?" Fache demanded as they walked up the front steps to a townhouse going slow enough for Katherine to keep up.

"Multiple murders. An entire family. Father, mother , one son and three daughters in total. Almost ritualistic in fashion, much like the Tanith case but this time the symbols are early Christian as far as we can determine. I thought the lady would have better luck then we have so far." Collet replied back, though looking to Katherine at the end. She merely nodded. "The parent's and the son's bodies are in the kitchen, while the daughters are in the family room."

As they moved into the room, other agents already there moved out of their way, revealing the condition of the bodies. It was like a slaughter house. The family room had been well furnished and apparently had served as a focus for the entire family. There was a large screen TV, a pool table; a game system Katherine couldn't identify was stored on one of the shelves of a large entertainment center, along with board games, and many other toys, games, and equipment. This had been a happy family, she realized as she looked around. She could see them all, down here, watching movies or playing one of the games. All of them laughing and enjoying one another.

Maybe it hadn't been like that all the time, but the well used appearance of everything convinced Katherine that it was that way often. Now however that happy area had turned into one of horror. Katherine looked over at Fache, instinctively checking to make sure he was alright. His jaw was clenched tightly, his fist balled up and knuckles turned white. He was pissed off. Then again with this scene anyone should be angry this had happened, especially with obviously a loving family.

Katherine looked at one of the uniforms, the one that looked like he wanted to puke the least and asked, "Has the coroner been here?"

The uniformed officer nodded, "The coroner told me to tell you that the scene was released to you."

"Where is he?"

The uniform pointed towards a closed door, "He's been in there puking since he got down here."

"With this scene I'm not surprised." She muttered holding her hand out to one of the forensics team members who immediately handed her a pair of plastic gloves. Putting them on, she moved around the bodies checking the damage done. Each of the sisters had been physically nailed to the floor. Long nails ran through their wrists and ankles. They had been positioned so that each sisters head was next to another's feet forming a kind of asymmetrical triangle in the center of large circle that had been drawn on the floor with various symbols.

Each of the three sisters had been stripped and other symbols carved into their bodies. Katherine made sure that the forensics team thoroughly documented and photographed before continuing. Finally they had all had there eyes removed and throats cut. There were other wounds all over there bodies, and many bruises indicating further torture before death. She moved to the entrance to the kitchen, peering in briefly. This part of the scene was relatively normal, execution style murders. She moved back into the family room.

"The daughters were the primary targets. The rest of the family were essentially executed. When the coroner determines time of death we'll know if they were killed before or after." She once again moved around the room looking for potential details. And she found one. Pointing to the bottom of a book case she said, "Get a picture of that knife and bag it. It could be the murder weapon."

The door to what was obviously a small bathroom opened, and a green tinged young man stepped out. "Sorry captain, it's just…."

"That's fine!" He interrupted. "Your new, it happens. Just get the bodies and start the autopsy."

"Yes sir. Excuse me, ma'am." Katherine nodded and moved out of the way for his unspoken request. She walked back to Fache leaning heavily on her cane. He looked at her with worry, she merely shook her head slightly in response. She would explain later. The coroner moved quickly, prying each of the girls free and placing them in body bags on stretchers. The rest of the bodies were also gathered with the same expediency.

"The team's gathered all the forensics from the looks of it." She muttered to him and he nodded.

"Let's get back to headquarters so you can start on the symbology." Fache helped Katherine get back to the car and climbed in with her, Collet was already in the drivers seat. She just smiled slightly and leaned against Fache as was becoming the norm. The ride didn't take long. It seemed a younger junior agent was waiting and opened the door for them to climb out, Fache first and then Katherine. As they moved through the building agents called out greetings or cleared the way to the elevators. Once up to Fache's office floor they settled in the conference room to review information of the case they had so far as well as to give Katherine a clear look at the marks that had been carved into the girls.

Fache looked around the room as Katherine examined photos, "What do we have?"

"Current findings with an ME's is that the parents and son were killed first." Collet spoke up quickly.

"Killer probably considered them collateral damage." Katherine muttered loudly but absently, still intently looking at photos.

The comment causing everyone to look at her, so she elaborated after looking up from the pictures and seeing everyone's facial expressions, "The parents and the oldest weren't part of the ritual, the girls are what our guys needed, but there was something in the way, the other three people in the house. So they were killed quickly, more or less as an after thought, to get to the prize. Besides the observation of the different cuts leads be to conclude that could have most certainly been more then one perp." She then began to elaborate seeing many questioning faces. "Look at the situation. Six people all being held hostage, there's no way five people are going to sit still while someone shoves whatever it was into someone's head. They'd of scattered; at least one of them would have tried to get away. Especially if the parents were telling their kids to run as I imagine they would. No, the only possible way you could control six people like this is one, you've got them restrained, two you've got more than one person helping you. No evidence of restraint besides the nails in the basement, so that leaves number two. There's no doubt in my mind. Something like this. No one would pull off a ritual like this unless everyone was one hundred percent committed to the 'cause.'"

"What about the markings on the girl's bodies? They show hesitation." One agent questioned.

"That's because the girls were moving. See how intricate the markings are? It's much clearer from this autopsy photo than at the scene. This is actually similar to a Sumerian, but its close. In order to supposedly draw magic symbols properly you're required to draw the symbols in a particular way. There's no way the girls would have been able to hold still from the pain, so the person doing the cutting would have had to stop and start over and over to get the symbol perfect."

"And later as the girls started to get tired from the struggling and the blood loss, they wouldn't have been able to move around as much." Fache finished following her train of thought.

"How do you know they are Sumerian?" One of the bolded cryptologists snapped. Many glared at him for the rude outburst. Sophie, who was sitting next to him, seemed to be ready to pummel him.

"Because I can read it. I am a linguist you moron." She looked at him coldly. "Take your ego out the equation or walk."

His face turned red, "I don't answer to you, _Lady_ Katherine."

"But you do answer to me." Fache growled out quickly becoming his bull name sake. The agent rapidly began to pale so quickly one would think he would be passing out by now. "You are no longer on the case. A formal citation will be placed in your file and you are going to face further punishment for this. In the office or on a crime scene Lady Katherine is considered to be a consultant with a ranking level to my own. _I_ had nothing to do with this decision, the top brass made it on their own after the Tanith case. Consider your self on notice, one more problem and I will toss you out onto your ass." The agent seemed to gather what little anger or hostility he had and stomped out of the room. Slowly the remaining people got back to work. Fache also seemed to slowly calm down as Katherine place her hand in his.

"What about that sample you were considering unknown at the scene?" Collet asked one of forensics team members.

"It must be contaminated somehow. Analysis came back as a chemical composition of Mercuric Acid, Sulfur, Carbon and a few other things. We can't find any DNA. Still I decided to see if we could get lucky and I've sent a sample over to the university, they've got an extensive chemistry program, I'm hoping they can help us figure out what it is, and what it's used for and then maybe…" the agent trailed off as if the answer was obvious, maybe they can get a lead.

"Prints?" Fache checked his file.

"There were a few prints that didn't belong to the family, and Donteas found several in the blood that was used to draw the symbols on the wall. We ran them and they didn't come up in any database we have or have access too."

"The boot print we found in the family room belonged to a Hi-Tec boot, size eleven," Donteas said, "They're a high priced combat boot worn by some military and police forces but they're available on the open market. The print in question showed a boot that wasn't very worn so I checked and there's only a dozen stores that sell them in the area, we're going to check their sales in the morning, maybe we'll get lucky and our guy bought his shoes with a credit card."

"Ok," Fache said, "so according to the coroner, Beats, and Katherine we can almost certainly rule out a lone assailant. So, let's recreate."

Everyone looked at their notes and then Agent Alexandre Blanche said, "Ok, we know the girls were all killed at almost the same time after several hours of torture, M.E. puts their death at about 6 a.m. The call came in to the police at 9:30."

"At the same time," Greg Chantal said, looking at the coroner report he had, "Mr. and Mrs. Lawsonare and their son were killed between six and seven P.M. the previous night."

"According to the their neighbor Mr. Arsdenia across the street, Mrs. Lawsonare arrived home with the kids from school at 4:30 and Mr. Lawsonare got there at 5:00," Agent Chloe Claude said, reading from the notes she got from the neighbors, "He also said that the Lawsonare's were 'real nice people' they were friendly with people in the neighborhood. The kids were friendly and polite. This was just an all around nice family."

"So sometime between 5:00 when Mr. Lawsonare came home and when he, and his wife and son were killed someone got into the house with the sun still up; took control of the house so that none of the neighbors noticed anything. Killed three people in the kitchen and then killed three more in the basement and again got out after the sun had come up without anyone seeing anything." Blanche said in disbelief, "We're hunting ghosts."

Fache sighed in frustration, "We're hunting sick people, that's all."

Sophie shook her head, "So we've got the all Paris family. All nice people, polite, respectful hard working and someone decided that they'd be the perfect choice for a slaughter?"

"You're looking at it the wrong way," Katherine finally said, having listened, impressed to the group as they looked at the evidence they already had and came up with several directions of investigation. These people really were good.

"What do you mean?" Blanche asked.

"What I means," Katherine said, "is you're looking at this case like I imagine you do most cases. In that case it's one person doing things to another for revenge, greed, jealousy, or perversion. Right?"

"Usually," Fache nodded, indicating she should continue.

"This isn't your normal case. If you think motive is important, so you can solve it then you need to understand that this person is not driven by greed, jealousy, revenge, or perversion. They didn't choose these people because they had done something. They were chosen because they were exactly as they appear; good people. People who do these kinds of rituals choose their victims because they espouse some virtue that they think is necessary to achieve their goals, usually innocence."

"Innocence?" Sophie asked.

"Yes," Katherine said, completing the explanation. "The girls were innocent; they would have made perfect sacrifices to whatever god or demon these people thought they were trying to appease."

"This is unreal. Are we actually talking about satanic sacrifices?" Sophie asked, "I mean in Paris, in the 21st century."

Katherine shrugged, "As long as there have been people that thought they weren't getting what they deserved in life you've had made up rituals that are supposed to give them what it is they want. What they think they deserve. The desire for that hasn't changed no matter what century it is. If someone is desperate enough, they'll try anything."

The team considered that for a long moment. They were all good at what they did; experts in fact. This crime however was outside the scope of what they usually went up against. Rapists, robbers, crooks, scammers, and murderers were their area of expertise.

Religious fervor that led to murder, that was a little different.

"And we need to know that so we know what we're after. By understanding the drive, it will help us catch them," Donteas said. Stating what everyone now understood. They had started to fall into their usual pattern out of habit; looking in directions that wouldn't serve this time. They needed to focus their skills on what the crime was actually about. That way they could solve this that much faster.

Fache looked at his watch and said, "It's almost three a.m. We need to call it quits."

"What about other cases?" Katherine asked.

Fache shook his head, "This is all we are working on, till it's solved. We've been on this for almost sixteen hours now. I want everyone to get some rest, even if it's somewhere here in the lab. We need to recharge," he looked at Katherine and said, "all of us."

"One last thing. This killer, or killers, most likely also will want to have some _entertainment_ in between these mass kills. Even the MO's may change if they seek there entertainment separately. We'll need to alert all agencies of this potential problem." 

888888888888888888888888888 

Chapter 10

Her limbs were beginning to cramp from being held in one position for so long, and an itch on the sole of her foot was driving her nuts. Her face hurt and she could feel it swelling. She ached all over.

_'That son of a bitch!'_ she thought, unable to curse him out loud because of the tape over her mouth.

Why had she ever thought he was so special? It wasn't like he took her to fabulous places and spent money on her. They'd never been anywhere together except this place, and it was a rat hole.

She didn't know anything about him, not where he worked, not even his name. She'd never learned his name even by accident. It wasn't printed on anything in the apartment, no subscription magazines or mail, nothing. He remained nameless, and that should have been her first clue that he wasn't classy and intriguing, but just flat-out, freaking weird.

The second time they were together, he had defined the nature of their relationship. Laid down the ground rules, so to speak. He had opened the conversation while spreading baby oil over her, hoping to achieve a special effect in a series of photographs.

"Your friend…the one you were with the night we met."

"You mean Celene?" she'd asked, feeling a stab of jealousy. Was he wanting to invite Celene to join them in a menage a trois? "What about her?"

"Have you told her about us?"

"I haven't had the chance. Her folks made her go to France with them for vacation. I haven't seen or talked to her since the night I met you."

"Have you told anyone about me and what we do here?"

"Oh, sure. I announced it over breakfast to my parents." His poleaxed expression made her giggle. "No, silly! I haven't told anyone."

"That's good. Because this is so special, I like thinking that you and I are each other's best-kept secret."

"We are each other's secret. I don't even know your name."

"But you know me."

He stared deeply into her eyes, and she was reminded of her first impression of him, that he could see straight into her inner-most being. He apparently had felt the instantaneous connection that she had. After all, he'd told her that first night that he loved her.

The secrecy was probably necessary because of a wife who knew nothing about his "hobby." She envisioned his missus as a missionary-position-only prude who would never understand, much less consent to, his need for variety and excitement. Pictures of Mrs. No-name masturbating? Get real. Never in a million. Probably not even a bare-boob shot.

That night his lovemaking had been especially ardent. He was focused you could say, not just on his camera. She lost count of the number of times they did it, but it was always different, so it never got boring. He couldn't get enough of her and told her so. It was a heady, experience, being practically worshiped by a man so classy he could probably have any woman. She had thought she would never want it to end.

But that had been then.

Each time she saw him, his jealousy increased, until it began to irritate her and rob her of the pleasure of being with him. No matter how good the sex was, it wasn't worth the hassle he gave her about other men.

She had thought about standing him up tonight, but then changed her mind. He was going to take it hard whenever she told his she didn't want to see him anymore. She dreaded a scene, but better to put him out of his misery sooner rather than later.

He had been waiting for her at the appointed place. And, unlike the night they'd met, he didn't look at all the cool and relaxed. He was agitated and edgy. The moment she joined him in his car, he started in on her. "You've been with somebody else haven't you?"

She supposed she should be flattered that he was jealous, but she had a headache and was in no mood for the third degree. "Do you have a joint?" Having learned that she was fond of smoke, he always had some for her.

"In the glove compartment."

There were three in a Ziploc bag. She lit one and inhaled deeply. "Best thing for a headache." Sighing, she laid her head on the hardest and closed her eyes.

"Who was he?"

"Who was who?"

"Don't jerk me around."

His tone brought her head up.

""You've already been with someone tonight, haven't you?" His fingers were clenching the steering wheel. "Don't bother lying about it. I know you've just had sex with someone else. I can smell him on you."

At first she was surprised and a bit unnerved that he knew. Had he been spying on her? But the uneasiness soon gave way to anger. Why was it any of his business who and when she screwed?

"Look, maybe getting together tonight isn't a good idea," she'd said. "I'm PMSing and I don't need any shit from anybody. Okay?"

His anger dissolved instantly. "I'm sorry I raised my voice. It's just…I thought…"

"What?"

"That we had something special here."

That's when she should have told him that she didn't want to see him again. Right then he'd given her an opportunity, but, damn it, she hadn't taken it. Instead she'd said, "I don't like you ragging me about where I go, what I do, and who I do it with. I get enough of that at home." She leaned back pulled deeply on the joint. "Either chill or take me back to my car."

He chilled. He was subdued, even a little sullen, when they reached the apartment. "Want some wine?"

"Don't I always?"

She was already high from the weed. Might as well go all out and get wasted. One mercy fuck, then she'd tell him they needed to cool it for a while – read _forever_ – then she'd get the hell out of here and never come back.

His computer monitor was the only source of light in this room where the shades were always drawn. One of the more graphic photos of her was on his screen saver.

Seeing it, she said, "Tsk, tsk. That's definitely one of the 'after glows,' isn't it? I'm such a naughty girl. Naughty but nice, right?" She winked at him as she accepted the glass of wine he brought from the kitchen.

She drank it like water, burped loudly and wetly, then extended the empty glass toward him in an impertinent request for a refill.

"You're acting like a slut." He calmly took the glass from her and set it on the nightstand. Then he slapped her. He slapped her so hard that tears came to her eyes even before the rocket of pain from her cheekbone reached her brain.

She cried out, but was too shocked to articulate a word.

He pushed her back onto the bed. She landed hard. The room seemed to tilt. She was more wasted than she'd thought. She struggled to get up. "Hey! I don't .."

"Oh, yes, you do."

He pushed himself into her chest, holding her down while he wrestled with his belt and fly. Then he began tearing at her clothing. She swatted his hands, kicked at him, and called him every name in the book, but he wouldn't be stopped.

He pushed himself into her with such force that she screamed. He covered her mouth with his hand. "Shut up," he hissed, so close to her face she felt a shower of spit.

He used her for hours before finally granting her peace in death.

888888888888888888888

Elsewhere on the morning of the same day. The young and old flocked to Bois de Boulogne to enjoy the day. Using the shade and water as a defense against the heat. Soft drinks and lemonade were consumed by the gallon, beer and wine downed in the same quantity, but less conspicuously. Bottles had a way of disappearing when park police cruised by. During picnics and cookouts people mopped sweat, charred hot dogs, and watched babies in diapers toddle on the grass. Mothers shouted at children to stay away from the water, not to run near the road, to put down a stick or a stone. The music from portable radios was, as usual, loud and defiant; hot tracks, the deejays called them, and reported high temperatures.

Small groups of students drew together, some sitting on the rocks next to the river to discuss the fate of the world, others sprawled on the grass, more interested in the fate of their tans. Those who could spare the time and the gas had fled to the beach or the mountains of the world. A few college students found the energy to throw Frisbees, the men stripping down to shorts to show off torsos uniformly bronzed.

A pretty young artist sat under a tree and sketched idly. After several attempts to draw her attention to the biceps he'd been working on for six months, one of the players took a more obvious route. The frisbee landed onto her pad with a plop. When she looked up in annoyance, he jogged over. His grin was apologetic, and calculated, he hoped, to dazzle.

"Sorry. Got away from me."

After pushing a fall of dark hair over her shoulder, the artist handed the frisbee back to him. "It's alright." She went back to her sketching without sparing him a glance.

Youth is nothing if not tenacious. Hunkering down beside her, he studied her drawing. What he knew about art wouldn't have filled a shot of glass, but a pitch was a pitch. "Hey, that's pretty good. Where're you studying?"

Recognizing the ploy, she started to brush him off, then looked up long enough to catch his smile. Maybe he was obvious, but he was cute. "American University or Paris."

"No kidding? Me too. Pre-law."

Impatient, his partner call across the grass. "Rod! We going for a brew or not?"

"You come here often?" Rod asked, ignoring his friend. The artist had the biggest brown eyes he'd ever seen.

"Now and again."

"Why don't we…"

"Rod, come one. Let's get that beer."

Rod looked at his sweaty, slightly over weight friend, then back into the cool brown eyes of the artist. No contest. "I'll catch you later, Pete," he called out, then let the frisbee go in a high, negligent arch.

"Finished playing?" the artist asked, watching the flight of the frisbee.

He grinned, then touched the ends of her hair. "Depends."

Swearing, Pete started off in pursuit of the disk. He'd just paid six bucks for it. After nearly tripping over a dog ,he scrambled down a slope, hoping the frisbee wouldn't land in the creek. He's paid a lot more for his leather sandals. It circled toward the water, making him curse out loud, the hit a tree and careened off into some bushes. Dripping with sweat and thinking about the cold draft waiting for him, Pete shoved branches and cleared his way.

His heart stopped, then sent the blood beating in his head. Before he could draw breath to yell, his lunch of Fritos and two hot dogs came up, violently.

The frisbee had landed two feet from the edge of the river. It lay new and red and cheerful on a cold white hand that seemed to offer it back. She had been Margaret Johnson, a twenty-three-year old American student and part-time waitress. Twelve to fifteen hours before, she had been strangled with a priest's amice. White, edged in gold.

888888888888888888888

"A boat crew found the body two hours ago. She's been raped repeatedly for hours and it was by no means gentle. Coroner says the damage is extensive. She does have one mark on her chest." Collet said as he lead the way down the embankment to where the body had been pulled out of the water. They approached the body slowly, Katherine examining the mark carefully.

"It's a sign normally used on whores in ancient times. That way they could always be identified and captured if they attempted escape."

"But the question is, did he pick her at random?" Fache muttered.

"Probably not. She may have been forward but I don't think this is random." Katherine nodded to the coroner who began to bag the body. "Part of the profile for this type means that he expects complete fidelity from any partners he may take in any way."

"So if he were to think that she betrayed him…" Collet trailed off.

"He would think her a whore, and something like this happens." Fache completed.

"Exactly." Katherine nodded.

A uniformed officer came running up to them as they made there way back to the car. "Sir, there was just another report that came in. A body was found in Bois de Boulogne earlier. They haven't cleared the scene yet."

88888888888888888888888

Chapter 11

"They are so different and yet so alike. One is obviously wishing to punish but this one is as if to purify. They are polar opposites." Katherine muttered, seeming some what bothered by something.

"What is it?" Fache asked putting his hand on her shoulder.

"There has to be more then one." She shook her head. "Such diverse difference's in personality….There's no other option. There must be more then one. It's the only possible explanation."

Fache turned to Collet. "Have extensive pictures taken. Make sure every inch around the body is thoroughly examined by forensics. Contact us at Katherine's rooms." Collet nodded as Fache lead an exhausted Katherine to a car. It had been a long and trying couple of days for everyone, but with her still healing gunshot wounds, Katherine was more tired then them all.

Thankfully the press had moved onto other events so there weren't many people out front as they arrived. Still the few that were there seemed…respectful to the pair as they walked past. Fache had been exceedingly gentle and patient with Katherine, always being there for her. She knew he went out of his way to do so. When he was questioning a suspect he was poised figure under pressure and exercising that same pressure on the ones that he questioned. His restraint and patience bordered on the robotic in that setting. But with her, she could see the emotion in his eyes, feel it in his touch, hear it from his heart and soul. Not once had he even hinted that he wanted physical companionship, he seemed to be content still. Her thoughts broke off as the elevator stopped. He held her tightly, helping her along. They could see the door open and several people standing about.

"Qu'est-ce qu'il ne va pas?" Fache questioned. _(What is wrong?)_

"We noticed the maid toke longer today and she wasn't the normal maid either. We have her being followed and under watch. A technician is sweeping the room for bugs and other devices he should be finished soon." Moriana explained as Fache rapidly began to get more and more pissed off. Within in a minute the technician came out with a small baggie that held five small circular devices. He careful placed it in the center of a containment box.

"Listening devices. One in each main room, even the bathroom." He explained after firmly shutting the lid.

"I want to know where they came from, who really put it there, and why!" Fache's voice contained a level of anger that had not been seen or heard very often. Even before meeting Katherine.

"Yes, sir. Though the lady should change hotels or find a residence for safeties sake." Moriana gulped but tried to keep up a strong front.

"He's right. We need to get you moved." Fache sighed turning to Katherine.

Katherine sighed as well. "My things need to be packed. There is a residence around here that I've inherited but renovations have only just been completed. I have no idea what condition it's in." She gave them the address.

"Very well. Have Sophie and Bernette come pack her things, and take them to the residence. Also have a team do a sweep of the place and take care of what needs to be done. Call in a cleaning crew we trust if necessary. We'll stay here for a little while until the all clear is given." Fache ordered before leading her into the suite and helped her sit on the sofa.

"You should not be going to such lengths for me, Bezu." She gave a tired sigh.

"I will go to whatever lengths are needed to protect you, ma cheri." Fache replyed brushing strands of way-word hairs back from her face. He sat next to her, wrapping his arms around her as they leaned back. "Now rest. I will wake you when it is time to go." She laid her head on his shoulder tucking it under his own, and drifted off into sleep contentedly though she did hear his last comment to follow. It made her smile. "Ja t'aime, ma cheri." He soon joined her in sleep.

When Sophie, Collet and Bernette arrived and saw the two, they smiled to each other before quietly going about their tasks. Collet spoke with the agents outside about the sweep of the home the pair would be going to. After everything was gathered up and sent along to the residence. Collet made a coughing noise that woke the captain.

"Everything is ready." He said trying to hold back a grin. "And I must say the security systems for the residence is excellent, state of the art. We've set up several panic buttons in many of the rooms for safety's sake. There are no bugs or any other devices found and the cleaning crew as already made sure everything is ready."

"Good." Fache nodded. He slowly woke Katherine and once she was awake enough, he told her the house was ready. She just murmured, so he carried her through the hotel and to a waiting car. When they pulled up to the address she had given, his eyes widened. It stood four stories high, the brick and stone front sported large windows could obviously show spectacular views, the woodwork on the door alone was very intricate. Once he stepped inside he could see that it was equally magnificent. Slowly he came back to himself and stepped into the small elevator carrying her gently. The entire top floor was a large suite with huge king sized bed. He gently set her down, assisted in undressing her and laid her down under the covers before stripping down himself and joining her in sleep.

88888888888888888888888

Chatper 12

As Katherine woke she realized where she was, and looked to Bezu who slept still. It was time she gave him another special wake up call. She lowered herself onto him, but he remained asleep. And slowly began to move. He came awake slowly feeling the pleasure, but once he was fully awake he realized the pleasure was real. Opening his eyes he saw her above him.

"Ma cheri is energetic this morning." He grinned. They're love making was slowed and sweet. When they reached their peak it was together and magical. Resting now they merely snuggled for a while, basking in the moment. But that moment was soon interrupted by a knock on the door. Katherine remained in bed as Fache put on a robe and answered the door. It was a very grim faced Collet. "What is it, Collet?"

"Another family has been killed."

Katherine & Fache's reactions were immediate. Fache slammed the door shut and Collet could hear from the hall their curses as they dressed. He smiled both tired and sad. Within a few more moments the door opened once again and the two stepped out fully dressed, Katherine with her cane.

"Is it the entire family again?"

"Yes ma'am. Father, mother, and their three daughters, triplets age twelve." Collet explained as they went down to the main floor in the elevator. They traveled in silence from then on, none of them having the desire, or energy to say anything. Knowing what they would find when they got to their destination has effectively robbed them of any energy at all. As they pulled up to the house in suburb, Katherine was struck, as she was last time, at the peacefulness of the neighborhood. No one would ever know about the horror that had taken place in this house from looking at the outside. She could see the anger and frustration on the faces of the agents already there. Anger that someone had done this yet again, anger with themselves that they hadn't solved this case yet, and spared another family this horror. The frustration came from knowing that the people who had done this were going to keep doing it until they stopped, and right now, they had nothing.

Katherine called out for the forensic team to gather and they did so quickly. "Ok, we've got work to do, let's get this done, and get back to the lab as soon as we can. I want speed, but not haste, people. We're going to have a mountain of evidence but hopefully a lot of it will repeat the first crime scene so analysis won't take as long. What teams you get into I don't care. I need two on the parents, at least one maybe two walking the perimeter. I want to know how these people got into the house. We didn't find anything last time. I want to know this time. The last of you will be with me and the three daughters."

The team members all nodded and split off into there respect groups. The one's who would be with Katherine stayed where they were for further instructions that she would obviously give. Fache was busy speaking with the other officers and agents else where.

"One person on blood and blood spatters. Another on potential entries and exits. I need some to collect fibers, trace and finger prints no matter how smudged they are. The last of you will process the bodies. I'll work with one of the people doing the trace on the bodies to ensure that we get accurate pictures and diagrams of the marks on the bodies. I want all the evidence we can collect, it is vital for not only finding him but convicting him as well. Screw the guys up stairs and screw the mayor and screw anyone else that wants to put us under a microscope while we try and do our job, this mother…" she trailed off as she realized her voice was rising and people were starting to stare. She took a deep breath and said, "This _bastard_, these people. Whatever it is, they need to be stopped, not because the brass say so but because _I_ say so. We can't let this happen again. So don't miss anything, go over your work as many times as you need too. I want to be able to bury this guy in evidence."

As the team stepped into the house they split up to do their assigned tasks. As she moved into the family room she was assaulted by the familiar smell of blood, and death. She looked over at the coroner, and nodded his head. The man acknowledged the nod and said, "Scene's released."

Katherine nodded again and then signaled that the man could leave with a turn of her head. The man looked all too appreciative and quickly ascended the stairs. Katherine and the team continued to process the crime scene until finally, an hour later, Katherine called for the coroner to take the bodies back to the morgue to start with further processing.

8888888888888888888888

Another hour later the coroner joined the task force in the conference room tiredly but greatly angered. He had three more victims to autopsied, three more victims of a monster that so far no one was anywhere near catching. He remembered the three little girls sitting on slabs waiting for his knife and felt his emotions boil in a way they hadn't in his entire time as a coroner.

DCPJ coroner Blanc had always been a man of restraint, being able to count on one hand the number of times he'd ever actually lost his temper. Still in this case he couldn't help the feeling of anger that slammed through him or the way it was expressed as he turned slammed down his files on the conference room table in anger.

The impact was loud and the vibrations of sound ran up throughout the room and all conversations stopped.

"You ok, Doc?"

Blanc just looked at him darkly and said, "I told you I don't want anymore of these Collet."

Collet said, "If I had that kind of power…" he trailed off

Blanc said, "I know, I'm sorry. This is twice in less than two days Collet. What kind of person can do this?"

Collet wanted to tell him that it wasn't people but he knew he couldn't so he just shook his head instead and said, "I don't know but we're going to get him."

Blanc looked at him and said, "I damn well hope so. Because I honestly don't think I'll be able to do another set like this. I've been a Coroner for over twenty years, and this is the first time I've seriously thought about quitting. I just don't see the point anymore."

Collet looked at his friend sadly. He knew that this case was unlike anything they'd ever faced before. It was testing everyone to their limits. He just had to hope that it didn't claim any living victims, in addition to the ones it already had. He sighed heavily and said, "Bern Williams once said '_Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit_,'" Collet quoted, "Don't give up on the human race, Blanc, otherwise we let these things beat us. Then where are we?"

Blanc shook his head and said, "I don't know, Collet. I honestly don't know."

The others in the room watched the by-play drained of energy by this latest scene of violence. Fache cleared his throat and everyone focused on him. "Let's go over what we have so far."

"The knife wounds on the girls were distinct to a particular kind of blade. This wasn't some simple hunting knife, or even a scalpel, but it was definitely thin and very, very sharp. I looked at the wounds on the mother and father it was the same entry wound in their foreheads that had been on the first victims' parents and brother. However this time I think there was a odd shape in the depth of the wounds." Chloe Claude started the conversation. "Blanche came up with the idea of casting the wound to get a better idea of what the weapon was."

Fache then looked at Donteas and said, "What have you got on this suspect?"

Everyone looked at Donteas expectantly and he gave them the run down on what they were told, including the description and the name.

"So how do we track this guy down," Blache asked, anxious to see someone brought in for this.

Claude shook her head, "That's the thing Collet was going to work on, before the call on the Devlin's came in," she said, reminding them all of the new victims, "I don't know how far he's gotten but I guess we can ask."

"Wait a minute," Greg Chantal said, and they all looked at him, "That name, Stephen…I've heard it before." Greg pulled out his laptop computer and started typing.

Fache was right behind him, "Where Greg, where have you heard it."

In a surprising display of aggression, a testimony to the young criminalist's anxiety he actually stopped typing for a second, stood and stared right into Fache's eyes and said, "Just give me a minute, alright?"

Fache was to surprised to say anything and Greg took advantage of it and went back to the computer.

After a mere moment the computer brought up a result for the search Greg had initiated, as the screen opened he began to read, "James K. Stephens, K. stands for Kenneth. He was a poet in the nineteenth century. He was also known as a huge Misogynist."

When everyone was looking at him Greg said, "I had to read some of his stuff in English Lit back in college; my English Professor thought the guy was 'ahead of his time'. Of course my Lit professor hated women more than anyone I've ever met, treated all of the female students like crap. Finally got his ass fired."

Greg shook his head and continued, "Anyway, James Stephens was described as a 'Big hulking man of incredible strength and dark piercing eyes.'"

Fache nodded his head, "So we've got a suspect in a spree killing that looks like a writer from the end of the nineteenth century who takes an attitude towards woman that matches his own. If this is our guy then we still have no idea when or where he's going to hit next."

Greg scrolled the page down further and pointed at it. Fache leaned in and read the page more carefully, and suppressing a shudder that would run through his body. Given what he had just learned a few hours ago the idea of what this all could mean caused real fear to enter his heart for the first time he could really remember.

The others weren't able to see the screen because of his blocking it and finally Collet said, "What's it say?"

Fache took a moment to find his voice again and turned to the rest of his team and said, "James Kenneth Stephen was once named as a suspect in the Whitechapel murders."

Everyone looked confused but Katherine and finally Nick said, "I don't remember that."

Katherine said, "That's because the Whitechapel murderer went by another name that most people know."

"Which is," Sophie asked, tired of the cloak and dagger and just wanting to know what Greg, Fache, and Katherine were so shaken about.

Finally Greg said, "The Whitechapel Murder is known more commonly as 'Jack the Ripper'."

The effect it had on the others was palpable as they all stared in open mouth shock at what they had heard.

Finally finding his voice Moriana said, "Someone's got a sick sense of humor."

Of course that was when fate decided that things weren't bad enough and Katherine's voice was heard from her seat, "Maybe," they all turned to her as she spoke, "but I'm not laughing, are you?"

88888888888888888888888

Chapter 13

The teams split off doing there perspective assignments for the case. Coming together again to give each other updates once every hour. The forensic team processed through everything as quickly as they could only Katherine and Donteas attended the meetings so the others could continue there work. The other groups soon after choose there own representatives once they saw this, and so the work was being done but they were still informed of any developments.

Katherine, Fache, Collet and Sophie were gathered at the conference table going over the language of the symbol's when Moriana came bursting through the offices and ran straight to them, others followed hoping for good news.

"We have a potential location for the suspect!" He shouted out cheerfully and everyone immediately plowed into the room to hear what else he might have. Going over to the map tacked to the wall, he pointed to one spot. "He's been spotted around one building several times everyday. It's a relatively abandoned structure off near the Bous de Boulogne where they found one of the bodies."

Fache didn't want before giving orders. "I want our best SWAT and raid teams prepped and ready to go with in the hour. That includes you Collet. Forensics should get what supplies they might need to process this place. Katherine..."

"I'll be in the command post, no front lines for me for a little while." She interrupted and Fache nodded with approval.

"Treat this like the Tanith case, don't hold back, shoot to kill if necessary. And it most likely will be with these monsters. Faire vtr!"

Everyone exploded into action, emptying the room quickly. Fache turned to Katherine who merely smiled. "Go, you have a team to lead. I promise to stay in the van until the all-clear is given. Just be careful, Bezu. Ja t'aime."

"I will. Ja t'aime, ma cheri." He kissed her forehead softly before leaving to get ready. She sighed and began to make her way down to the mobile command truck. Once everyone was ready, they began to head for the destination. Swat and raid teams led the way and secured the perimeter. The truck was also guarded several blocks away just in case anyone tried anything.

"We have a basic floor plan from the city records. I'm having Sophie upload them to your screens. Be careful because we don't where he is or if the floor plan has changed." Katherine's voice blared through the radios. "Basic stats of the perp is as follows: his name is Mark, he's roughly 32 years old. Roughly five eight, brown hair, blues. He has five brothers, all dead as of 3 years ago, no sisters. Perceived as a misogynist by psychiatrists, he suffered from serious physical and mental problems after an accident. One of the other psychiatrists mentioned it was possible that he had multiple personality disorder. He also like to write, his poems are seen as having a sense of morbidity in them, but there is nothing to indicate that this came from personal experience as a murderer. Though he has been known to be extremely aggressive, especially with women. He once beat a woman he had never met because he over heard her talking with a friend about her sex life. The woman was in a coma for at least four to six months."

"Everyone forget discretion, shoot to kill. I don't want to lose any more people to this monster." Fache spoke into the radio's coolly. "We go in 5 …. 4 …. 3 …. 2 …. 1 … NOW!" The entry teams immediately plowed down the doors and ran inside. They could hear a gun going off several times.

"He's got a .45!" Moriana shouted. Several more gun shots rang out before there was complete silence. "Perp is down! I repeat, perp is down!"

"Do we have any wounded?" Collet called out.

"Swat 1 Negative."

"Swat 3 Negative."

"Swat 2 Negative."

"Raid 2 Negative."

"Raids 3, 4, 5. Negative."

There was a pause before everyone could hear Fache's voice, "Raid 1. Negative."

Many, especially Katherine, breathed a sigh's of relief that could be heard.

"Clear the rest of the building. Then paramedics and forensics can come in. Katherine, you might want to see this." Fache ordered. Katherine took off her head set and got out of the van. She walked down the street with three agents around her, apparently for protection.

'_Bezu, always protective.'_ She thought as she walked.

As she entered the house, she could see writing all over the walls. And done by at least two people from the looks of it. But she only saw one body. The man was gasping, blood trailing from many wounds. She connected the dot's relatively quickly.

"Why?" She asked as calmly as possible. "Why didn't you stay in a mental facility to get help?"

"Bastards never understood our work." He choked out.

"Our?"

"My brother."

"Your brothers died three years ago, Mark."

"NO! NO! Ben is still with me, he was always with me!" He cried out.

"None of your brothers are named Ben." She said patiently as though she spoke to a confused child.

"Shut up, you bitch." His voice and demeanor completely changed. "I'll always be with Mark."

"You mean you'd always use him." She retorted, the agents around her watched the exchange with shock. "Your probably the one who raped and killed the young girl dumped in Bois de Vincennes!"

"The bitch wasn't faithful even when she promised me. She deserved what she got!" He spat towards her as he was cuffed tightly at his hands and feet.

"No she didn't deserve it. No one does. You only say that to make yourself feel better don't you." She bit back.

"What would you know?"

"Obviously more then you! She was a bit of a wild girl but she still was only with one man at a time, she was faithful until you started to get more possessive didn't you. Did you rape and torture her because she said she wanted to break things off? Did you gain some sort of power from hurting her? From chocking her with your bare hands?" She walked around his kneeling form. "What does Mark think of that? What does he say about it hmm?"

The man's pissed off expression rapidly change to one of supreme horror, and he sobbed. "I tried to tell him it was wrong, but he wouldn't listen to me! I tried so hard I swear!" He broke down sagging to the floor.

"I know you tried Mark, but you have to answer for what happened. Ben can't control you anymore." She said slightly soothingly. He sniffed back his tears and nodded. A total of six agents positioned around him carefully but he walked out on his own.

"What was that?" Fache demanded.

"Multiple personality disorder." She sighed watching him being strapped and restrained to a gurney. "Think of it as the existence in an individual of two or more distinct identities or personalities, each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment. At least two of these personalities are considered to routinely take control of the individual's behavior, and there is also some associated memory loss which is beyond normal forgetfulness. This memory loss is often referred to as 'losing time' or amnesia. Mark is the passive personality, while Ben is the aggressive of the two."

"So he was two people but in the same body?" Collet asked.

"That's the most basic, yes." She nodded.

"Very well. Collet contact the psychiatrists we have and get them to exam him. Also make sure he retrained, in solitary, with guards. No one is safe alone with him." Fache ordered and Collet got out his cell phone. "Forensics get in here and thoroughly document this place, from top to bottom. I want everything examined for potential evidence." He said over the radio and soon the team was coming in. He then turned to the other agents, "I want to know who is in every building of the next block and why."

"Yes sir." Moriana said crisply before turning to the others. He was coming into his own among the other agents, earning a lot of respect for his latest achievements. So when he said something seriously people at least tried to listen. Katherine smiled at seeing his growing confidence as she made her way to Fache. The forensics team knew how to do this without direct from anyone giving orders, so she left them to it. But suddenly they could hear gun shots rang through the air, Katherine was quickly shielded by both Fache and Collet as other agents toke up defensive positions.

"All teams report!" Fache shouted into his ear piece.

"Raid team 3 under fire! I think we found a black market storage house five doors down! All this stuff was stolen over the last few weeks. The guards are doing most of the shooting." Someone yelled into their mikes.

"Swat teams move to assist at all costs, shoot to kill only if necessary! Raid teams 1, 4 and 5 secure the perimeter! Raid team two protect Katherine and the forensics team!" He ordered rapidly drawing his own weapon. He nodded to Collet, who drew his own weapon, and with the team placed themselves as shield around the lady and others. Looking briefly to Katherine, she merely nodded in response, he quickly joined the others in supporting there team mates. More shots rang out for what seemed to be eternity before silence once again came.

Katherine looked up, worried as they heard a call come over the radio, "Agent down!"

'_Please be alright Bezu!__ PLEASE!'_ she prayed.

"I'm alright!" Blanche called out. "Damn bastard shot the floor out from under me."

"What's your condition?" Fache demanded.

"Bruised but fine other wise, sir."

'_Thank god!__ Bezu is safe.'_ Katherine thought closing her eyes briefly.

8888888888888888888888

Chapter 14

"Please Katherine. Go back to the house and get some rest!" Fache actually pleaded. She was glaring at him stubbornly as they stood in the squad room, shaking her head.

"No!" she replied firmly.

He sighed, "Look you promised both me and the doctor you would rest. AND.." He continued though she tried to interrupt. "you have to take your next dose of medication. Which is at the house."

"But I can take that in a little while." She now pouted to the chuckles of the other agents who watched the pair.

"Home. Bed. Medicine. NOW!" He demanded.

"Fine!" She bit out. "But I'm going to stop and get some food first!"

"Agreed." He said as he tried to hurry her out of the office quickly before she changed her mind. She merely arched an eyebrow as he dragged her down the hallways. After saying good byes, the agent driver, who introduced himself as Nathanial Monroe, toke her to her now favorite restaurant for a pick up of steak and mash potato's they seemed to always keep in stock now that they had become regulars. It was many miles from the station. There was only one problem. They couldn't find any of the staff. And then heard someone banging around. The agent ordered that she go to the car and call for back up. Which she readily did, though taking out her cell phone and calling the switchboard.

"This is Katherine, I need you to send police and agents to the Bordoe restaurant…yes that one. There appears to be a situation.." She trailed off when she heard a loud crash nearby. Her cell phone beeped and she saw the battery had run out. Cursing she put it away and hugged the walls. The blue-white fluorescent lighting of the lobby area relieved the surrounding darkness, but only marginally. The moon was too slender to shed significant light. At this time, only the occasional car could be seen sometimes. She tried to look for a land line phone but had no luck. She crept to the open kitchen door hoping she could get one of the knives to defend herself. On the way she managed to come across a phone but the line was dead, it had probably been cut.

Her breathe was coming out to harshly, she couldn't hear anything else. She had stupidly left her cane in the car. And with the front doors automatically locking themselves there was no way for her to get out. It had a sinister quality as she looked almost looked about wildly, maybe because the building was as silent as a tomb. Where was the agent? Was he dead? Questions to which she had no answers.

She slowly moved her way through the kitchen but found nothing. No people, no knives, just nothing. Moving to another part of the restaurant she tripped over something, or rather someone. It was the agent, she quickly searched for his gun but found the holster empty. The perp was now potentially armed. She couldn't hide any longer, because there was no place left to hide. And she wasn't going to continue this game of cat and mouse. She walked back to the kitchen door but was thrown to the side and into a wall. Her breath whooshed out of her from the impact. A body came to cover her own. She fought using her defense training, managing to flip him over and she darted for the door. She was able to make it halfway through the restaurant before being knocked down again.

888888888888888888888888

"Shit, shit, shit!" Fache cursed as he punched the sirens on his car. Several more cars were following behind him, including one ambulance just in case. Collet merely held on tightly once more as they blasted down the street.

"A call came in before Katherine's, apparently one of the line chiefs went on a god damned shooting spree when his girlfriend, a waitress, broke up with him stating that she was seeing another man!" Collet yelled his voice carrying over the radio.

"I don't care! If he's harmed one hair on her head then he is _mine!_" Fache roared back, his voice also carrying through the radio and many agents recoiled a little bit for the sheer rage that was in his voice. This would _not_ be pretty.

8888888888888888888888

Katherine cried out as he grabbed her by her hair and tried to drag her to a booth table. She knew what he had planned to do. And she fought him every inch of the way, clawing his arms, trying to kick him repeatedly. Final he got tired of her actions and though her at yet another wall. She looked up to him standing over her. His short and fat body sickened her. Nausea rose in her throat as she saw the look on his face. She had been right, he planned to rape her.

Focusing on his movements she quickly saw an opening and kicked him in the groin as hard as she could. He screamed and cursed in pain as she made a mad dash for the doors. Taking a chair she broke through the window and began to climb out as the first cars arrived. But he was able to grab her once more, she managed to hit him again with her elbow, freeing herself and dropped to the ground as the agents aimed. The barrage of gun fire that followed was deafening and filled the air with smoke. Katherine looked up and saw Fache running up to her.

'_Thank god.'_ She thought as he got closer.

"Katherine!" He yelled. He grabbed her up, she hugged him tightly as he carried her out of the way as the other agents surrounded and checked the attacker.

"Nathaniel was hurt! He's in the kitchen!" She cried out. Several of the agents went plowing into the restaurant at her words quickly going back to him while clearing the restaurant of potential threats. Fache set her down on the trunk of a car quickly checking her for injuries. Minor cuts and some bruising, but she was alright. He grabbed her close in a tight hug, and thanked god. She gave a sob, thinking of Nathaniel's wounds. He had taken a bullet directly to his chest. Something not many survived from.

"It's alright, Ma cheri. I'm sure he'll be fine with some medical attention. Just calm down for me." He soothed her some as the paramedics wheeled Nathanial past on a stretcher. The sight alone almost sent her back into hysterics. Another ambulance crew came up to them. As the third checked on the attackers condition. "Let them look you over real quick and I'll take you home. Okay?"

She nodded slowly but still held his hand tightly through out the examination. She had told Bezu of her own attack and rape she had to endure many years ago and with the condition she had found her own daughter in only a few years after that, this obviously brought back to many bad memories The medics merely confirmed what Fache had thought, recommending some further r and r. But they had to ask one last question before moving on.

"Did he…did he rape you ma'am?"

She shook her head wildly, Fache hurrying to calm her down once more. "He…he tried to but…I kept hitting him anywhere else I could."

"Alright, ma cheri. You did good." He soothed her some as the crew left to check on others that had been found. He could here there was a body count but looked to Collet still as he approached.

"Five dead, all employees. Three male cooks and two female waitresses. Preliminary from the medics is that they have been dead a couple of hours. Both women were raped. He appeared to have been trying to clean up the mess when Katherine and Nathaniel arrived. The owner and the manager are on the way here to see if anything else was stolen. Forensics has already started." He looked apologetically as Katherine started to gather herself up once more.

"Who was he?" She asked still shaken. Fache's arms around her gave her strength and safety she needed to get through the shock.

"Migail Romero from Spain. He was here as part of a cooks exchange program of sorts. We're getting his records from the Spanish." Collet eyed the two briefly. "Take her home captain, I will tend to this. I do hope, my lady, that we can avoid too many incidents like this. I doubt the men like worrying about your safety and be saved from the captain's mood swings would be a good thing." She smiled tiredly, while Fache glared at him some. Moriana walked up holding Katherine's cane.

"We found this in Nathaniel's car. Thought you might want it back." He handed her cane to Fache who then passed it to Katherine. He was about to walk away but paused saying, "I'm sure Nathan will be alright, my lady. He's very stubborn."

"Thank you, John." She replied softly as she slowly lowered off the trunk to stand with her cane now in hand. The agent merely nodded before getting back to the restaurant. She turned, obviously still in shock and scared, to Fache who studied her. "Can we go home?"

"Of course, ma cheri." He guided her to a car where yet another agent was waiting. He held her as they drove to the house, knowing she need the contact right now. Pulling up to the house, the driver quickly put it into park and opened the door for the pair. There were two officers guarding the door in the entry way. Upon seeing them they quickly opened the doors and held them open for the two to pass. Katherine felt numb with the thought of what Romero could have done, she could feel Bezu guiding her into the elevator and then to the suite. "Would you like a bath?"

She nodded, eyes down, "I want to wash him from me."

Fache's eyes gained a glimmer of anger at the Spaniard's actions, before they cleared once more. She needed him right now, anger could come later. The bastard was probably dead anyway, no point in furthering the damage he had already done. "Go ahead and get ready I'll fill the tub." Fache moved to release her but she held on. "What is it ma cheri?"

"Join me?" she asked in a whisper.

"I promise." He cupped her cheek gently, she leaned into the touch before releasing her grip. He quickly began to fill the tub while Katherine almost robotically stripped down. This would take time and patience in many ways to repair the damage of the attack, but he would see this through for his love's sake.

88888888888888888888

Chapter 15

As long as he held her, she seemed to sleep soundly enough. In the bath she kept scrubbing her skin almost raw until he grabbed her tightly, then she just broke down sobbing. All he could for a while was hold her as she cried. He was right in that this incident revived many bad memories of the past. But this time, she had him to watch over her. He whispered soothing words to her as she slowly calmed down. Carrying her to a bench from the tub, he'd dried them both off before carrying her to the bed. She first fell into an exhausted sleep and then gradually to a deep healing sleep.

The next morning he woke to a knock on the door. He called out softly and Sophie slowly entered with a tray of foods.

"I'm sorry sir, but I thought that having food here would help once she wakes. Romero is dead, he was pronounced DOA. Nathaniel is going to pull through." She spoke softly setting the tray on a low table in front of the tv. "Everyone is worried. How is she?"

"Better I think. This brings back many bad memories for her." He replied equally as soft. She nodded and then left quietly shutting the door behind her. He ran his hands through Katherine's hair, brushing it back from her face. She only murmured and snuggled closer, making him smile. That was one of the many traits he found appealing. In the past he blocked off his emotions as much as possible, only taking gratification when absolutely necessary. But Katherine, she awakened that side of him that he shut out so long ago. She opened a whole new part of life for him.

Slowly she woke, and while she still seemed sad by the events of the night before, there was a new strength in her eyes now. There was also love in them when she looked at him. All he did was kiss her forehead softly.

"Good morning, ma cheri. Sophie brought some food up if you would like."

She shook her head before laying it down onto his chest once more. "Is he dead?"

He sighed still running his fingers through her hair, "Yes, ma cheri, he's dead."

"Nathaniel?"

"He's fine. Sophie told me he made it through alright."

He could almost feel the relief in her posture. "He got hurt protecting me."

"Protecting others is part of the job, ma cheri."

"I know. I just wish he hadn't been hurt so badly."

"I understand." He studied her briefly. "I know you well enough, that you want to get back to work soon."

She looked up smiling, "Yes, not right away though. But you're the same way, Bezu."

He chuckled, "True. But Sophie said everyone's asking about you. You worried them."

Her eyes crossed slightly. "I didn't mean too."

"I know, but no more front lines work for you, anywhere." He laughed at her playful pout. And soon it turned to more physically playful. Thank god she was coming back to him.

888888888888888888888888888

They spent the rest of the day lounging about, though there was one impromptu meeting held in the large dining area around dinner time. A new perp had popped up in the most unlikely place that they need to pool all there resources once more. And Katherine and Fache were considered to be very valuable resources by many in the DCPJ. So they all gathered at Katherine's house, thinking this is where she would be most comfortable. They were right. While she did make a massive improvement to the way she was last night, she still had a little ways to go. Both she and Fache seemed to be very happy as they walk down hallway to the dining room.

"Alright, why are we having such a meeting like this in my dining room?" Katherine questioned, her eyebrow rose up slightly moving with Fache to the center of the table so the materials that would most likely come could be spread out.

"Even with catching Mark and his alter ego. Some of the deaths we had originally attributed to him appear to be the handy work of yet another killer. It was when the evidence of the various scene had been processed that we found this out." Collet explained as laid out copies of the case files in front of the couple.

"And forensics are the ones who initially found the discrepancies?" She asked pulling one of the files closer.

"Yes. But is it possible to have more then one killer with the same MO?" Moriana asked frankly.

"Actually yes, more often then you would think. Especially if the killer seems to have the same inspiration. In this case it would most likely be Jack the Ripper. Many killers, especially serial killers, have said or seem to be inspired by his _work._" Katherine replyed as she studied what was before her. Almost working on instinct. "Most recently there was actually a female serial killer in New Orleans who was alarmingly similar to him. The FBI's BAU or behavioral analysis unit made the profile that helped capture her."

"But why would a woman do that?" Another young agent asked confused.

She smiled at his naïve, "Something you have to understand about Jack the Ripper is that had he been raised in what we might call a normal home, he could have never killed a single person." Others in the room made sounds of shock or surprise at this. "When Jack's father died his mother latched onto him to replace her dead husband. She even abused him sexually. It is through that that Jack gains his hatred of women. He felt that she made him into a whore for doing that to him. Raising him to see to her own needs but never responding to his own. The girl in New Orleans was the victim of a rape. Her attacker went free, so she eventually decided to hunt taking inspiration from Jack."

"She raped him? But how do you know this?" Sophie asked

"Because he kept records, journals if you will. And I have them." Her eyes twinkled even more as they froze staring at her in even more shocked. "Yes, I have them but there somewhere safe. Many people would love to get there hands on them for one reason or another. Now, back to business folks."

"Yes, ma'am. As you can see here and here," the young agent pointed to specific images, "the wounds on the victims are identical. From the coroner we know that the depth, shape and impact of the weapon are identical as well. It's safe to say that the same weapon made all of these. But the forensic problem where having is defining what the weapon is."

"Have the coroner do a cast mold of the wound. He'll know what I mean. A CSI in Vegas actually almost pioneered it."

"Do we have any suspects?" Fache asked Collet as Katherine and the youngster talk back forth about the merits of certain molds and mixes. It was a little disconcerting when they talked about how to put them in and extract the mold later. Finally the two turned back to the current conversation.

"There are a few name's. Some are listed through there psychological disabilities. Schizophrenia, Manic depressive, and so on. We thought Lady Katherine could go through those to see if any of them a viable." He handed her a thick stack of files. "I know it is a lot …"

"It's alright. It's a creative challenge of sorts. I call Jason Gideon, he's head of the BAU and a good college of mine. He and his team could be of great help." She waved off his apology.

"This Gideon, is he trust worthy?" Fache asked serious in everyway.

"He toke a bullet for me. He helped to profile the bastards who went after my family, and each and every one of them have faced justice. I have trusted him with my life many times, Bezu. He has not led any astray." She replyed with all seriousness, understanding that this was about business and nothing else. Nothing personal was being spoken. And Fache knew it.

"Alright but he speaks of this to no outside his own team."

"Understood, though if they fell it would be best to come here then I will allow it. They are there best in the field. I can arrange everything on the diplomatic side of things, keep the red tape from getting to big." Katherine insisted.

Fache studied her once more before nodding. "But let it be understood this is our case, they are merely here to help with the profiling of the perp, nothing more." Katherine merely smiled and nodded. Everyone soon began chatting back and forth about different evidence or testing that could be done. It appeared to be a forensics hoe-down was going on. We'll see how long that last's won't we?

Chapter 16

"BAU team in the round table room please." Agent Jason Gideon called as he walked to the conference room from his office after receiving a very important call, the other BAU team members looked to each other before following. Once they toke their places, Gideon hit the speaker button. "Please continue, Lady Evans."

"Wait, THE Lady Evans? Katherine Evans?" Garcia interrupted.

They could hear the deep throated but feminine chuckle over the phone line. "Yes, Ms. Garcia. That would be me. Now, if you don't mind, I need to discuss business. I am currently in Paris, France where we are having a bit of a problem with unsub's as of late. I will start from the beginning of my involvement in all of this and go from there. As I'm sure you have heard I have been apart of the peace talks and negotiations that were being held here. And during this time I was asked to assist on a case by Captain Bezu Fache of the DCPJ to track down a series of ritualistic cult like killings. Through this investigation we found that a pagan sect had begun doing ritual like ceremonies. They were the followers of Janus. Though they had gone through a type of brain washing by their supposed leader and high priest, who was later identified as Tanith MacKein. He has been captured and is being held in a secure facility under American military guard. Following shortly there after I was shot out side of the meeting rooms used for the peace talks. That perpetrator has also been caught and is in solitary."

"I was supposed to be resting from the incident, however several politicians decided to be uppity so I've had to attend anyways. Once that was settled I also continued my work with Fache's teams. Our next case involved the murders of several families. The average total of each was five, the parents and the kids. All killed in yet another type of ritualistic fashion but these seemed far more peculiar to me because they seemed to have been derived from multiple individuals. And it ended up being a man with multiple personality disorder. Yes, he was caught and yes he's receiving attention. The most troubling aspect of all this is that we attributed several deaths to this man but now find that the evidence doesn't support this. We have two completely separate unsub's with the same MO. But this newest unsub has an MO you may be familiar with, you know him as the Whitechapel murderer, Jack the Ripper."

All of the group, save Gideon, seemed to freeze up processing this information. "Have Fache's people send copies of what they can. We'll work it from our end."

"Very well but Fache has requested, and the president has granted, complete silence from all of you. You will remember nothing from this case."

"We understand."


	3. Part 3

Athena's Daughter

By: Lady Kanko Wildstar

Chapters 17 - 28

Author's note: This is the next installment of the Athena's Daughter series. The first is roughly 8 chapters long. I have no idea how long this one is going to be, so please be patient. Rated M for adult language and scenes. You have been warned. I originally began writing this only since last Monday the 9th, but it has grown to such a length already in just the first part. I ended that on the 19th. Now part two is up. It's something that just got stuck in my head after I finished reading two of Dan Brown's novels: Angel & Demons, and the Da Vinci Code.

I want to send out a thank you to Good And Evil, and Airflow on for letting me use there tango scene in chapter 1. Sin City Seer is the inspiration of the Jack the Ripper angle. There's also actual published authors that have inspired other scenes as well. Thank you so much!

You'll have noticed that some chapters are long while others very short. Dan Brown has done the same in his books. I thought it was fitting. Hopefully you have enjoyed it thus far.

88888888888888

Chapter 17

It did not take long for a request to set up a meeting room at Katherine's house was made to her and Fache. Fache seemed about ready to object when Katherine interrupted.

"Follow me." She walked down the hallway the group followed confused. At least, confused until she opened a pair of sliding doors to reveal a state of the art war room the size of a ballroom. Flat plasma tv's and monitors lined two the available walls from ceiling to floor, showing many different news channels and reports running across them. Computer stations were place through out the room, some raised and some sunken in to the floor. On one main platform was a grand computerized seat with it's own monitors and consoles. Doors were made of solid Plexiglas and showed what seemed to be an extensive weapons armory. Other similar doors led to there own rooms that included a forensic lab and storage, a preservation vault similar to those at the Vatican, a file/data storage area with spare parts that might be needed, a meeting room with a large tiger oak round table, another room held an office with fine surroundings, obviously meant for Katherine or maybe even Fache eventually, there was even an interrogation room and more. All total there was close to nine side rooms.

The agents looked around in awe. Here, in this beautiful home, was a room that could be a command room for nations. The state of the art equipment made even Fache drool slightly.

"A friend in an agency heard I was redoing several properties and set me up just incase I ever became active again." She grinned widely at the looks on their faces. "Now, now, boys. Wipe the drool please." She chuckled as many of them actually did so on instinct.

"Which agency is your friend in?" Collet asked still looking about at the various equipment.

"He's been in several but the one he was in the longest was MI-6." They whipped around to look at her once more in shock. In her face, though she was grinning, showed she was also serious. "Now then as long as everybody behaves you get to play with the toys….well not the armory." Several looked like Christmas had come early and began running around checking things out for themselves. Fache himself was studying the main chair and consoles. "No, Bezu that's my seat."

He looked up at her and saw her amused smile, he just grinned back at her. "I'm sure I can _convince_ you to let me give it a try, Ma cheri."

She just hummed before calling for everyone to gather again. Many did so very reluctantly. "I know you want to play but we have a job to do. Do not abuse this privilege or it will be _permanently_ revoked. Understand?"

Many nods greeted her words quickly, "Alright now I need everyone to split into groups based on your departments at the DCPJ. From there each group will have an area to work in based off of that. The round table is reserved for mass meetings of the various departments coming together with evidence or such. _If_ you _prove_ that you will not abuse the equipment or treat it with any disrespect I _may_ be willing to get you a few of them for headquarters. It would also help keep the brass and political figures away from budget concerns over them. After all it would be a donation or testing for them in a more public setting."

This actually got cheers from the agents, and of all ages. Katherine just laughed at their enthusiasm. Even Fache chuckled, apparently his fascination with gadgets had passed on to a few of the others, and he was definitely hopeful that Katherine would truly let them have a few of them for the office.

"Let's get everything in here and get to work." Fache ordered and they followed the order eagerly.

8888888888888888888888

Chapter 18

"Do you have what we seek, soldier?" A harsh voice rasped across the phone.

"Not as of yet, sir. But the information obtained thus far is greatly promising." A younger, more submissive voice responded as respectfully as possible. "I have not failed, please allow me more time. I promise to fulfill my oaths."

There was a pause. "Very well, when we contact you next, you had better have what we seek. Or the punishment for failure will be harsh."

"Thank you, sir. I …" He tried to reply but the elder voice disconnected.

888888888888888888888

Chapter 19

At headquarters, the commandant was sitting in his office and wondering why on god's green earth was the offices of Captain Fache and his teams were so quiet. Finally he stood and marched down to the offices only to find they were completely empty.

"Where the hell is everybody?" He muttered. He stood there for a few moments becoming more and more furious and red faced. He spun around and stomped back to his office, dialed Fache's cell number, preparing to have an 'adult' temper tantrum.

"This is Captain Bezu Fache of the DCPJ, I am in the field and can not answer my cell right now but if you would leave a message I will get back to you when I can. Thank you…" _Beep!_

The commandant slammed the phone down hard and stormed from the room. He stomped down the halls of the DCPJ headquarters, agents rapidly moved out of the way for fear they would receive his anger directly. Sophie was stepping out of the cryptography offices with two large boxes, more agents also loaded down following her, when the commandant stormed up to her.

"Where is Fache?!?" He snapped.

"At Lady Katherine's, sir. She ..." She began to reply.

"He's WHERE!!" He roared. "I will have his badge for this! Purposefully shirking his duty for _a woman_!"

"That _woman_ happens to have the most state of the art systems available. And she has agreed to let Fache's teams use them for this latest series of murders." She roared back at him. "And she also happens to have the support of Minister Raffarin! Go ahead and _call him _youarrogant ass!" She stormed off with the other agents following, leaving the commandant standing there with his mouth hanging open in surprise at Neveu's arrogance.

He stormed up to a phone, "I wish to speak with Minister Raffarin, this is commandant Ari of the DCPJ!" He waited for the call to transfer. "Yes minister, this is commandant Ari. Captain Fache has gone completely AWOL and has taken the bulk of the….Yes sir at Lady Katherine's…but sir! You can't seriously believe……but…..I…I understand sir. Yes sir." He hung up looking thoroughly deflated from his previous anger. "How can he approve of Fache actions like this? Letting him involve _her._ Assisting my ass! I'll still have him before the board for this!" He muttered on his way back up to his office's. Greg Chantal, one of the younger forensic team members under Fache's command, toke out his cell phone quickly and dialed the number Katherine had given everyone…

8888888888888888888888888

A beeping sound came from the communications terminal, one of the agents hit the speaker button. As Katherine and Fache turned to look at him.

"Yes?"

"This is Chantal, the commandant is going on a rampage! He just called the minister directly, demanding that the captain be quart marshaled for being at Katherine's command room."

"What was the minister's response?" Katherine asked.

"From what I could tell he yelled back at him, saying something along the lines of that the captain was aloud to be there, and Katherine was merely assisting in the investigation. Neveu also yelled at him earlier when he started all this. He still wants to take the captain to the board."

"Let him try." Fache laughed harshly.

Katherine went over to another phone and dialed the minister directly. "Minister, this is Katherine Evans. Yes, I just received word that a commandant in the DCPJ was attempting to have Bezu and his team brought before the board even after speaking to you…..yes, apparently he is still going on a bit of a rampage. If this is the treatment my assistance receives….good, I shall expect results promptly." She hung up, turning to look at the others stared at her in awe or surprise, Fache included. "What? I met the man at the charity ball. He's a sloppy arrogant ass with a false taupe, he actually seemed to think I'd be attracted to him for some reason, even with that beer belly of his. Made me feel grossed out." She shivered almost dramatically gaining a disgusted look on her face. Many just started laughing, Fache joining them loudly.

Sophie walked into the room with her small group, looking around at the laughing agents through out the room. "What did I miss?"

This just started them off again.

Chapter 20

As the agents utilized Katherine's war room, she sat in her office making phone calls and filling paperwork for the use of the equipment and a few gifts. One of her calls was once again to the minister.

"Minister Raffarin, it's Katherine."

_"Lady Katherine! I hope there has been no further difficulties with Commandant Ari."_ The minister tried to sound jovial.

"No, no problems there. I was wondering, with how the agents are putting some of our newest products to use, if I could have Fache's teams test new tech equipment as they are developed?" She smirked at the silence that followed her words.

_"Of course, we would be honored." _He replied slowly still processing the potential of her words.

"Good, I send my people to set everything up, if you would make sure that there are no problems with people at the DCPJ. Some remodeling may be required in various areas."

_"Of course, I'll make all the necessary arrangements. Though may I ask how long this instillation will take?"_

"No more then a day maybe two. The workers would, of course, clean up after themselves."

_"Very well then. Thank you for this honor, my lady."_

"Thank you for being open to the idea. I'll have the necessary paper work couriered over to your offices via one of the agents presently with me. And if you would please insure that Commandant Ari has no objections."

_"Yes, I'll make sure everything is arranged immediately. Once again, I must thank you for this opportunity."_

"Your welcome, minister. If you will excuse me, I'll make the necessary calls and paperwork on my end." She smiled slightly as she hung up, before once again dialing another number. "You got my email?"

_"Indeed, things are already in motion." _A voice replied seriously.

"Thank you, old friend."

_"Consider it a gift. In thanks for saving my daughter and grand-daughter."_ He returned, and that was all that need be said to one another as both hung up. Katherine smiled as she went about with the paperwork for the work to be done. She hoped that the surprise would go over well. Though Bezu was rather technologically savvy, he was also a very proud man.

"What is that smile for, ma cheri?" Fache questioned as he entered the office.

"Nothing, just making a few arrangements." She smiled up at him as he came up beside her, kissing her on the forehead as had become the custom for them. "How are they doing?"

"Better now that we have these systems and facilities of yours. Thank you for all this." He cupped her check with the palm of his hand.

She leaned into the touch, "No thanks are needed Bezu. Not if it helps."

"You know it does, ma cheri." He replied before frowning. "Should you not be resting?"

"Oh, come on. I'm sitting and doing paperwork, not running a marathon for pete's sake." She pouted slightly earning a grin from him. "I already took my med's too."

"Very well, but push to far and I take you up too bed." He warned.

"Only if you join me." She grinned at the look that came into his eyes at her words. His eyes seemed to always light up at her teasing, but the moment was soon broken by Collet's throat clearing loudly.

"Sorry to interrupt but the forensic and cryptography teams may have something for us. Blanc and Beats are on speaker phone in the conference room." Collet grinned at the annoyed looks they sent his way. He merely turned around and sauntered to the conference room, knowing they would follow soon enough. He was just starting to take his seat as the two ambled in.

"What do you have?" Fache asked as they took their seats.

"We managed to narrow down one of the weapons to a pugio." Claude began.

"A roman pugio?" Katherine interrupted.

"Yes, ma'am. From historical records we know that was a small dagger used by Roman soldiers as a sidearm. It seems likely that the pugio was intended as an auxiliary or backup weapon, but it found many uses, especially as a utility knife. Officials of the empire took to wearing ornate daggers in the performance of their offices, and some would wear concealed daggers as a defense against contingencies. The dagger was a common weapon of assassination and suicide; for example, the conspirators who stabbed Julius Caesar used pugiones. From what we can tell, based off of chips found in the stab wounds, this is authentic."

"An authentic one would have to be at least fifteen hundred years old." Robert muttered loudly. "A dagger that old should be in a museum not being killing people."

"But the unsub or unknown subject, would want to use what fits his or her delusions." Katherine added. "Very few pugio's exsist today and most, as Robert has said, are on display. Not many would know how to track down, much less acquire, one." She rose from the table, punched in a key code and the computer scanned her hand before the door to the weapons vault slid open. She moved over to the swords and hand weapons displays, grabbing a box quickly and left, sealing the vault once more. Setting the box on the table she put in a combination and opened the box. Nestled inside was a pugio dagger. Those gathered looked at it in awe. "My great-grandfather was able to acquire this before world war one. I was always the one in the family who preferred learning the old ways before moving onto guns. When I supposedly master advanced hand to hand and short weapons, he gave me this."

"That's one hell of a gift." Robert muttered once more, many nodded their heads in agreement.

"It's not the only one I have." She replied sitting down. "I have a collection of seven."

"Seven?!?" Claude gasped. "Just one is worth millions, but a full set of seven!"

"What can I say? My family has had some very nice connections over the years." She shrugged closing the box securely. "Back on topic if you please."

"Um right. About 50 AD a rod tang was introduced, and the hilt was no longer riveted through the shoulders of the blade. This in itself caused no great change to the pugio's appearance, but some of these later blades were narrower (under 4.5 cm (1.75 in) wide), with little or no waisting, or reduced or vestigial midribs. Throughout the period the outline of the hilt remained essentially the same. It was made with two layers of horn or wood sandwiching the tang, each overlaid with a thin metal plate. Occasionally the hilt was decorated with engraving or inlay. Note that the hilt is 10 cm to 13 cm (4 in - 5 in) long overall and that the grip is quite narrow; it will always seem to be too small. This is based on historically data from several sources." Claude went into a short lecture mode.

"So overall it's a prominent style through out Europe in the very least but with the age testing it's been authenticated." Fache summarized.

Claude blushed at having gone off on a lecture again, many have commented that she seemed to do this frequently, "Yes, sir."

"Okay, moving on. Do you have anything new, Blanc?" Collet moved forward after a few moments of silence.

"We've found other trace evidence to be picked up and analyzed. It seems to be some sort of tobacco or pipe weed. Though this is only based on smell at this point. And also some sort of watermark stylus was used to first make the marks, the cuts were made after that."

"Someone on high enough a caliber wouldn't need to pre-inscribe the marks, they would just make them immediately. So that brings forth the possibility that this person is somewhat disconnected to and inexperienced with the ritual itself." Katherine said as she leaned back. "Which from a psychological stand point alone, doesn't match the previous ones."

"There are hesitation on these latest bodies. This is inconsistent with the last few victim's before them. One good thing is, through finger prints and dental records, we've identified the ten victims." Everyone in the room straightened up immediately at hearing this. "We sent the fax of their respective files already with the evidence. Agent Monroe insisted on doing it." Katherine's eyes widened at this, Fache grabbed her hand quickly. The motion did not go unnoticed by many. "Victim one is Jean Beante. Age seventeen. Student of Versailles Academy, she is a regular attendee of Belladonna. Victim two is Yoriko Kano. Age twenty-nine. Japanese national. Works at Raine Accounting off of Haxo. Been picked up at some raves for drunk and disorderly. Victim three is Jill Smith. Age nineteen. African American. American University of Paris student, psychology major for a masters degree. Regular of club Lumiere. Victim four is Lily MacDonald. Age nineteen. American student of the American University of Paris, literature major. Employeed at Le Wilhelm restaurant. Victim five is Diana Wellington. Age sixteen. English exchange student at the Rose of Versailles academy. Regular of club Lumiere. Victim six is Sara Boulines. Age is twenty two. Student of the university of Paris, mathematics major. Employed at the Cat Café. Victim seven is Sonia Vicktere. Age is twenty six. German national. Also got caught at a few raves. Employed at the Bank of Versailles. Victim eight is Mao Yui Wa. Age twenty four. Chinese national. Student of the American University of Paris, chem major on a masters degree. Also frequents raves. Victim nine is Flaur Fauna. Age fifteen. Italian national, exchange student with the Rose of Versailles Academy. Regular of club Belladonna. Victim ten is Selena Corvincoff. Age thirty. Hungarian national, student of the Art Academy of Paris. Regular d and d at Belladonna."

"So we have 3 Belladonna regulars, 3 rave partiers, 2 Lumiere, and 2 Noir." Collet counted off from his notes.

"Correct." Blanc replyed blandly.

"Wait wait." Moriana muttered loudly riffling through a file in front of him. "I still have the composit information we gathered for the Tanith case. One person owns Lumiere, Noir and Belladonna. His name is Viktor. He's Hungarian by birth."

"Alright, I want as detailed a profile as possible on this Viktor. And _everything_ he owns or has invested in. Katherine call Gideon and send copies of what we have." Fache ordered, though more softly to Katherine, who merely nodded numbly and headed into the office. The others all headed off to work quickly, Collet stayed where he was.

"She's still having problems with the restaurant isn't she?"

"Yes, she ….was attacked many years ago. And with what happened to her own daughter not to long after that…" Fache trailed off, and Collet nodded in understanding. This was something that would stay between them selves.

Chapter 21

Once Nathanial arrived, he turned in what he had been delivering and headed to Katherine's office. He watched her for a moment as she stared off in obvious thought. He heard from John how shaken she had been that night at Bordoe. It didn't take him long to figure out why. His own sister had been raped when she went on vacation to Spain, Katherine had the same look as she had had.

"Lady Katherine." He said softly, her head whipped around to look at him. Her eyes widened and began to water slightly. He quickly strode across the room to her taking her hand in his. "Please do not worry or cry. I'm fine now."

"You were hurt protecting me..."

"And I would do it all over again if I had too." He whipped her tears away with a tissue from his pocket. "I know now why you are so hurt. My sister had…been attacked once. It's still hard for her to this day. But you should grow stronger from this because you survived." Slowly a new strength began to fill her face and eyes, she nodded to him and he returned the gesture. Nothing else need to be said between the two. Katherine returned to her work on her computer and Nathanial went back into the main room where the other agents were. Fache caught his gaze and Nathanial could see the gratitude in his expression before he too returned back to his work. Other agents greeted him as he went to join Moriana's small group around one of the console's. The phone line's began blaring shrilly.

"Task force headquarters."

"Get Fache and Katherine together on the line. Having the rest of the teams would be good too. I just completed the last autopsy." Blanc's voice was hard but they could tell this would be good. Everyone headed to the conference room, settling in quickly though Katherine came in last with Fache to avoid being accidentally trampled.

"Go ahead Blanc, everyone's here." Collet said once they sat.

"I just finished the last autopsy and I found something very odd but I think it may help. The last victim had some stylus marks but the killer added some new one's without it. The patterns of the cuts and shapes of the wounds are not consistent. Two different blades were used and one of them had to be very new, as in brand new out of the package. We actually found trace that is consistent with having just been packaged on the line. And there's more then that. The blade matches the size and make for a special brand from the German Hoffman series. Just one of these blades can cost up to a thousand." Blanc sounded oddly cheerful as he said this.

"Thank you Blanc." Katherine's voice was strong again, like she had been before the attacks.

"Your welcome, my lady." He replied before hanging up.

"I want all purchase's of this knife to be tracked to who and where. There has to be a record some where. Once we know who and where I want background on all of them. The people and the companies. Be as through as possible." Fache ordered, the agents immediately began moving about to where they needed to work. Katherine sighed slightly attracting Fache's attention. "What is it ma cheri?"

"There something about this. I don't know why but as we learn more and more about all this, I lean more and more toward someone with law enforcement experience. But it would be regulated down to someone with a narcissistic sociopath personality. And with all the time I've spent in DCPJ headquarters, I've only met two such individuals and only one is such a dominant personality. One of them is _very_ familiar to you. And you are not going to like it at all."

"Which one?" Fache studied her expression.

"Ari." Was her reply and he startled.

"Do you really mean that?" He asked and she gave him a look. That look made him realize she was deadly serious. "What about the other one?"

"Only one person ever seemed to cater to Ari, his name was Mark Lestrange."

888888888888888888888

Commandant Ari was purposefully sitting at his desk filling out forms against Captain Fache when there was a knock on the door. He sighed setting his pen down. "Enter."

Katherine hobbled into the room and sat in one of the chairs before his desk without asking. "We seem to have a bit of a problem, commandant Ari."

"Indeed, you feel the need to interfere in how things operate around here. I will not allow that no matter what the minister says." He tried to sound menacing but failed miserably.

"That is not what I meant." She smiled tightly at the look on his face. "The problem is that you and Mark are getting far to out of hand with these killings. How many have you killed over the years? 20? 30? Maybe even over 100?"

He began to sweat at her tone of voice, "I have no idea what your talking about."

"Oh, but you do. The evidence will show it too if it ever comes to trial. I know that you are well aware I have diplomatic immunity, which means I can pretty much do anything without repercussions. I generally don't like to use it in such a fashion but for one as twisted as you and Mark, I'll make an exception. Now answer the question." She sneered as he began to tremble but he also began to reach for something, Katherine quickly raised her own gun. "Don't even twitch, Ari. Answer the question."

He rose slowly going to look out the window, Katherine followed the movement. "Why do you even care?"

"I care because those people, especially those girls, never disserved this fate you and Mark have inflicted on them. Or should I say, you and your son."

888888888888888888888888

All the agents who listened in from the wire Katherine was wearing, froze at her words. Ari had a son? Lestrange was Ari's son? They were truly responsible for this? For all these deaths and the pain that went with them. Fache's jaw clenched at her words, she had warned him of the possibility but he had hoped she would be wrong. Yet again she proved her instincts were accurate.

888888888888888888888888

He spun to look at her in shock. "How did you know that?"

Katherine chuckled dryly, her eyes revealing nothing, "One thing not many officers understand is that their DNA samples go into private data records incase of an emergency, so if anyone died there bodies could be identified. You two have at least seven markers in common, only a parent and child could have that many matching. Now answer the damn question!"

"I see." He sighed sitting back down. "I've honestly lost track lately, though your estimate is most likely accurate. This has always been something passed down from father to son since the days of Napoleon. Every year since your fifteen is celebrated."

"Celebrated?" She snorted. "Taking human life for sport is nothing to be celebrated! What did those people ever do to you? Or to Mark?"

"Oh please don't start with that supposed high morality of yours. Your not exactly innocent either! How many lives have you taken over the years?" He snapped at her obviously irritated by her words.

"Yes, I've had to kill but only in the defense of others. But only to protect lives. Can you honestly say the same? I guess not because you like to kill for sport!" Katherine snapped back. "For the soul's of those your family has killed tell me why!"

"Because they deserve it! They prove that they aren't fit to lead this world! Only the strong have a place, not the weak or the invalid. They should have been put out of their misery, and the misery that have been inflicted onto their families. How can you say that what we do won't make the world stronger? Every true leader knows that the people must be kulled of the weak, to be freed from them!"

"Kulled?! You honestly think that those people out there are a weakness? Who taught us in school? Who helped to guide younger generations to after there time? How dare you! You don't have to physically strong to be a leader or to use your brain! Yes, there maybe people with handicaps, but that's to be expected with the disease and illness's out there! They deserve good lives and support from others, not death at the hands of a pair of vicious bastards!" Katherine's voice changed quickly from a growl to shouting, Ari seemed to shrink under her before gathering up some courage.

"Who are you to call us bastards, you little whore! Do you honestly think that Fache would bother to care for you! You just probably use him for your own games. And he probably just wants to get in to your pants regularly, not that you make it hard for him!" He sputtered at her sneering slightly.

"Don't you dare insult him, you two faced son of a bitch! I would never use him in such a fashion! I love him!" She screamed straight back. The agents listening in looked at Fache and saw his fury at Ari's words turned happiness and pride at her reply. Collet even patted his shoulder grinning. "Did you ever think of those people's families? Three of these latest ones were engaged, did you bother to think about their fiancé's?"

"Oh, please! Who would want to marry those tramp's!" Ari scoffed.

"Wellington, Wa, and Fauna were not whore's!" She shouted and suddenly Ari burst into action, attacking Katherine. The agents could hear crashes and sprung into action quickly rushing into the room. Katherine had a new bruise on her cheek but managed to keep hold of her gun, her cane was in her left hand and bent slightly, obviously she had used it to hit him since there was a corresponding bruise on his own head, his toupee had been ripped off in the process. He tried to rush her again, almost feral, but three agents tackled him down, securing him quickly with the help of three more other agents. Fache came up to Katherine turning her head to check the bruise, while his eyes held love for her, they also held anger as he turned to look at Ari.

"Ari, you are under arrest for multiple murders. Your attack on _my_ lady will merely be added to the list. And you had better prey that a deep enough whole is found for you because I will make what remains of your life a living hell I promise you." Fache's voice was calm but the level of hatred and rage was enough to make even Collet shudder slightly. Ari was dragged from the room spitting and cursing at them both the whole time. He turned back to her, "Are you alright, ma cheri?"

"I'm fine, just one more bruise to add to the list. We still have to get Lestrange to confess his involvement in this whole mess." Katherine sighed putting her hand onto his own.

"I know, ma cheri. We will get him. What about this Viktor character?" He questioned.

"I know Viktor, or at least I've met him once. He's a complete psychopath with delusions of grandeur." Fache straightened at her words, Katherine chuckled at this. "I wouldn't worry about him, though he may know of the situation he doesn't like to get involved with the 'commoners of society.' I've already reported him to a friend who can see he's properly punished. I also contacted his heir's before we left home. They'll support us if it is necessary to go after him ourselves."

"You are sure?"

"Yes, Bezu. Lady Amelia and Lord Marcus have been married for many years and we've ended up saving each other's hides a few times. We're good friends now." Katherine smiled up at him as he seemed to accept her promise.

Collet cleared his throat loudly. "My lady, may I ask why our offices are closed off and the sounds of construction coming from it?"

"I said if everyone was good that you'd get a few toys. An old friend's team is installing some of them. It'll take until tomorrow before they are done at the latest. I'm sure that you'll use them wisely." Katherine smiled even wider at the cheers of the youngsters or techie's.

Fache seemed to grin widely too, for _many_ reasons before becoming serious once more. "Alright let's get Lestrange's confession, then we can all relax for a little while."

Chapter 22

_'Where is father? He was supposed to call me by now. Then again I failed again. How would I explain that?'_ Mark thought dragging a hand through his hair. He didn't have to wait long for the phone to ring. He rushed over to it, "Hello?"

_"Agent Lestrange, this is Captain Fache. Something has happened at headquarters, we need you to come in immediately."_ Fache's voice was hard.

"Certainly, may I ask what has happened?" Mark's worry began to increase to near panic at the implications of what the potential problem was.

There was a pause before Fache responded, _"Commandant Ari has gotten into a bit of a problem." _

"I'll be right in."

88888888888888888888888

Mark was led to his fathers office by one of Fache's men. The looks on everyone's faces were hard and angry. He thought it was from someone attacking Ari, he didn't understand until later that anger was aimed at him. As he stepped into Ari's office he could see broken and spilled about through out it. His father had been attacked!

"Lestrange." Fache stated pulling him out of his thoughts, Katherine stood beside him with what seemed to be a fresh bruise on her cheek bone. "Perhaps you would like to sit down."

"No, thank you sir." He replied puzzled at Fache's behavior. "What is going on? Was the commandant attacked?"

"No, he attacked someone else. That is the cause for this mess." Fache's voice was hard and cold.

"I don't understand." Mark became more guarded immediately.

"How long has your father taken you kulling?" Katherine asked, noticing the subtle change in his expression and stance.

"Kulling?" Mark questioned. Katherine pulled out a small recorder and hit play. He listened as his father admitted his involvement through an argument with_ her_. His face became maniacal and animalistic once the recording stopped. "What's the matter _Lady_? Can't handle the truth in my father's words? It's not my fault that your family didn't teach you your place?" He hissed at her, many of the agents around him became angered but none more so then Fache himself.

"My place? You want to know _what_ my place is Mark?" She queered at him moving forward, her own face set in stone. "I am Lady Katherine Evans. Formerly Colonel Katherine Evans of the United States Marine Corps, Marine Recon special ops. Lady of the house's Evans, O'Sullivan, MacDougal, MacDowell, Halipoes, Romanov, Donovan & Antonini. And if your stupid enough, I can be your worst nightmare. Chose if you wish to live or die, here and now." She hissed at his rapidly paling face. She was once again the true warrior they had seen in the past. The cold mask over her face and the look of death that glimmered in her eyes was menacing in the very least. Many shivered at seeing it.

Mark was frozen like at statue until two other agents finally cuffed him and read him his rights before he was dragged away. Katherine closed her eyes briefly as Fache placed his hand gently on her shoulder. When she opened them to look at him they were calm once more.

"Sorry." She whispered.

"No apologies are needed, ma cheri." He replied taking her hand in his and squeezed it slightly. He felt her hand return the gesture.

Collet cleared his throat once more. "We've had to have Ari sedated because he was still causing too many problems. Lestrange is behaving himself for now."

"Do I need to recommend a doctor to check your throat Collet?" Katherine joked dispelling some of the seriousness in the room and making many, including Collet himself, chuckle. Her cell phone rang loudly, taking it out she answered. "Yes?...oh excellent, most of them are here. We'll be there in just a minute." She hung up quickly and shouted cheerfully, "The offices are done!"

There was almost a mass stampede to the offices once there brains registered her words, Fache and Katherine joined the front of the group quickly. With a nod from Katherine, Fache swept the doors open. Many gasped, gawped and jaws dropped. Walking into the office's slowly they toke in the new surroundings with awe. The walls had once been in dull grays and greens, were now a rich honey color. All of the old fixture's had been replaced with new ones that gleamed brightly in the light. Each desk had been replaced but each agent's things had been respectfully placed into boxes in front of them with their new office chairs. The floors were no long the dark green vinyl, they were now a dark tan colored tiles.

Along the walls were large screens and command consoles like what had been at Katherine's. Some walls had obviously been taken down while others had been added. Each of the higher ranking agents, especially Fache, who had there private office's were treated to the sight of gleaming woods, chrome and more electronics. The doors leading to each office had their name carefully drawn. More storage was available but without making it seems out of place. Files that had once been piled up in large stacks were now organized into file cabinets. Each agent check out their individual work stations, some even began to unpack their things and settle in.

"I also had a few other toys installed in forensics and the coroner's office. That way they won't whine so much. So I take it everyone likes?" She chuckled at the resounding yes's and happiness the agent's gave. Fache had moved to check out his own office. He sat at the large desk looking about at all the new furniture and electronics he now had. A new couch and coffee table gave the feel of both comfort and space. She smiled at his expression of joy for having it all. She knew her gift to him and his team was truly appreciated. "The couch can change into a bed too, for really late nights."

He moved to her rapidly, hugging her close. Her arms wrapped around him tightly. "Thank you for all of this, ma cheri. It is too good for you to do this for us. I would have never asked this of you."

She reached up cupping his cheek tenderly, "Nothing is too good for you, Bezu. Nothing is too good that can ensure you come home to me. Ja t'aime Bezu."

"Ja t'aime, ma cheri." Fache whispered kissing her tenderly. They broke apart to the sound of cheering, when the two looked out at the door they could see many if not all of the agents standing there. Katherine laughed blushing slightly and leaned against Fache. He did much the same thing though with a little cursing involved which only made Katherine laugh harder. Eventually everyone calmed down and went back to exploring. "What do you think about getting some privacy and heading back to the house?"

"I think I'd like it very much, Bezu. And you know it." She smiled up at him, which he returned with a soft kiss on her forehead. As they left agents waved cheerfully as they continued to look around. Hopefully they would be able to have some time to themselves before something else popped up.

Chapter 23

As the two began to fall asleep, Bezu had one last thought, _'Maybe it will be time soon. I pray she says yes. But first I must find the perfect ring to present to her.'_

888888888888888888888888

The next morning when they woke it was to the ring of the phone. Katherine reached over Fache, grabbed the phone and answered grumbled, "This had better be good I was sleeping."

"_We found some things at Lestrange's house that the both of you should see."_ Collet's said in all seriousness.

"How bad?" Katherine asked sitting up quickly.

"_It's much worse then we had guessed. It will take some time to process everything but…you should really see for your self. I've sent a car to pick you up."_

"We'll be there in a few minutes." Katherine replied before hanging up.

"What is it, ma cheri?" Fache asked also sitting up after she moved back from putting the phone in the cradle again.

"Collet and the others found some things that we have to see for our selves. At Lestrange and Ari's houses. It doesn't sound good. Matter of fact is sounded _really_ bad. Collet has already sent a car." Katherine sighed. Both moved about quickly getting dressed and heading downstairs to the car. As they climbed in Katherine looked down at her cane. "Oh great! I'm going to need a new one. Ari was very thick headed."

Both Fache and the other agents snorted with laughter. "I am sure we can find a replacement, ma cheri. But for now let's see what Collet's up in arms about first."

The drive was made in silence and as the car pulled up to Lestrange's house they could see the flurry of activity in and around it. The home had been taped off and a perimeter secured. As they climbed out, Katherine could feel the strength returning to her body once more. She barely leaned on the cane at all now. Fache also noticed this and looked pleased. Both were quickly distracted from there thoughts by the arrival of Collet.

"I know the both of you wanted a break but this is different then what had been anticipated. You'll see once you get to look around." Collet said as he handed them both a set of gloves which they immediately put on. Walking into the house at first, the surrounding made it seem almost normal at first. But then they caught sight of what appeared to be a hidden door that sat opened. Moving over to it the couple peered inside and quickly became sickened at the sight they saw.

While Katherine had seen some dungeons from her friends who lived alternate life styles, this was truly like a torture chamber. Chains hung from various places through out the room, racks almost lined all the walls save one that held various whips and other torture tools displayed for selection. A couple of actual cages were also there. Blood caked over the walls and the floors only added to the horrible sight. How many were tortured here by those monsters? How much pain did they endure before they're bodies finally gave out?

"Mon dieu!" Fache whispered.

Katherine merely nodded at the sentiment before turning to Collet. "Is Ari's place like this?"

"We honestly haven't truly gotten to his home yet. The only reason we now know about this is because one of the new agents tripped on the carpet rug and fell straight through the door. But I thought where there is one…" He trailed off.

"Good call. Ari's probably got something at his own home for privacy's sake. Even these bastards may not want to share some of there kills. There has to be years worth of grime and blood in here. Most of those I've met in this lifestyle generally take pride in cleaning their 'instruments.' Not into that myself but I always tried to listen just in case I ran across something. But I never imaged anything like this mess." Katherine's voice held obvious disgust that echoed the emotions of those gathered.

"Call in all the back up forensic teams and personnel. This is going to put a strain on all of them as it is, we don't need to increase that any further. And have agents with forensic experience help where needed. This is going to take all the resources we've got. We'll need several to help raid Ari's house and at least begin cataloging things as well. Katherine and I will go there and begin to do what we can. Collet, you'll be in command here." Fache ordered rapidly.

"Yes sir, ma'am." Collet moved back out again giving orders through the radio. Within a half an hour agents secured Ari's house, Katherine and Fache joined the search for any hidden door ways or entrees. As she went through a room with a couple of other agents Katherine noted a change in the pattern of the wooden flooring.

"Come here and help me. Bring a knife or something we can pry with." She called to the others as she kneeled and they came to her rapidly with what she needed. They tried to pry the door but it wouldn't work no matter how hard they tried. "Try to find any changes in the panels, woodwork and borders. Check everything!" There rapid search began to draw attention from those in the next rooms.

"Bezu, in here!" She shouted and she could hear footsteps come running down the hall, he burst into the room going to her side quickly. "We found the door but it has to work on a lever of some sort because we can't pry it." He immediately joined the search of the wood panels, carving and floor boards. It was Nathanial who found the lever in the form of a rose in the crown moldings.

"I got it!" He shouted pushing the button hard and they could hear a click as the door popped up. Several agents drew there weapons before forming up and heading down to make sure it was secure. Once they heard the all clear Katherine and Fache headed down. Things were even worse then they had been at Lestrange's house. This was obviously where Mark had never learned to clean a thing in his life. Katherine heard an odd sound and turned towards it, her eyes widened as she thought she heard a moan. She rushed over to the small metal doorway quickly drawing the attention of the others. Throwing it open, she cursed at what she saw. A young woman, battered, starved and bruised lay there moaning slightly. Katherine quickly crawled in despite the calls of the others.

"Ma'am my name is Katherine Evans. I'm going to pull you out, it may hurt a bit." She said as she crawled to the other woman and grabbed her shoulders tightly as she could and began to pull her out. As Katherine pulled, the other's noticed the strain and guessed that she had found someone. Fache himself grabbed around Katherine's own waist and helped to pull. It only toke a few moments before both were completely pulled out of the tiny 'cell.' Seeing the woman in the light, many cursed and cursed loudly and colorfully. Her skin and body looked skeletal. Her eyes were sunken inwards and hair was matted to her head. Bruises, whip marks, and cuts riddled over her entire body. Like the Jew's of world war two, this woman had survived nothing short of pure torture. Nathanial had the good sense to call for an ambulance.

"Get me some smelling salts!" Katherine ordered moving forwards and beginning to examine her.

"Shouldn't we let her rest?" Moriana asked.

"No we need to make sure she has some coherence and responds to outside stimuli. The doctor's will need to know for when they start treatment regimen's. Get the damn salt and then step back she may have a bit of a violent reaction to men right now. A female agent will have to go with her." She said accepting the salts and broke it open under the woman's nose, the men all stepped back as asked. It ended up being a wise idea as the woman began to scream and fight Katherine. Katherine just toke the hit's and cradled her close, whispering comforting words to the woman and she began to calm, though latching onto Katherine tightly, sobbing. It was Sophie who arrived with the medics.

"We can't get the stretcher down here." Sophie whispered to Katherine. She merely lifted the woman herself and made her way up with Sophie and Fache following closely. Katherine gently lowered her down onto the stretcher. She motioned to Sophie who stepped forward, gently placing her hand on the woman shoulder as a blanket was wrapped around her emaciated frame.

"This is Sophie, she's a very good friend of mine. She'll take you the hospital." Katherine began but the woman began to shake almost violently. "It's alright. Hey, calm down for me, okay? I have to stay here to make sure evidence is gathered against the bastards who did this to you. Do you understand? I promise justice will be had for this. Trust me now."

"Okay." The woman whispered.

"My name is Katherine Evans. What's yours?" She asked gently holding the woman's hand in here own.

"Victoria….Victoria Waters." She whispered shivering hard.

"I trust Sophie with my life, and you can do the same." Katherine had Sophie come around she the woman could see her.

"I promise to stay with you for as long a possible okay?" Sophie asked. The woman only nodded and transferred her grip to Sophie. Katherine gave one last hug before the medics wheeled them into the ambulance. Once they were pulling away, Fache hugged Katherine tightly as she began to cry a little. It was only a tear or two but still many of the others were having problems of there own. Slowly Katherine began to pull away, Fache held her face in his hands gently.

"Better, ma cheri?"

"I will be when Ari and Lestrange get what's coming to them. For now I'm going to keep my promise. Let's get this evidence together so they can rot in hell." She nodded. Her words seemed to give everyone a way to focus on the task at hand. Fache released his hold and they marched back into Ari's home to get started.

888888888888888888888888888888

It toke five hours before Collet and his team arrived after completing the bulk of forensic's at Lestrange's house. And still they were not done. Katherine, taking a break for a moment went off to explore through the house. As she looked in and around the master's suite she noticed that something seemed to be off, but could not determine what. She quickly called to an agent that was in the hallway.

"Something is off with this room, we need to find what. Look for another hide away just in case and leave nothing unchecked. Get a few of the others to help us too." She ordered and he quickly gathered a few others that were near by. In there search they found a small safe but once opened it merely held a stash of money and a few documents of some sort. It was another one of the younger agents who initially spotted the doorway they were looking for.

"I think I found something." She called from the walk in closet. Katherine and the others soon joined her as best they could. One of her hands grabbed the hanging rod as she leaned toward the wall and it dipped slightly, a small door opened on the wall behind it. It was only four foot tall by two foot wide. The female agent pulled her gun, two more agents coming up behind her weapons also drawn.

As they check for any danger Katherine turned to Moriana who had joined them. "Tell Bezu and Collet that we found another room. Get the forensics team up here as well." He nodded and quickly shuffled out. The agents came out of the hidden room looking either very angered or distressed. "What is it?"

"You should really see for your self ma'am." The female agents spoke softly.

"Very well, good job agent…."

"Maria Leatte, ma'am. If you'll excuse me I think I need some fresh air." She replyed before walking off as both Fache and Collet came up.

"Is she alright?" Collet questioned.

"With time and maybe help. I haven't gone in yet but from her reaction it's probably not good." Katherine shook her head slightly before entering the room through the small doorway. It seemed to be a small records room but still so very horrifying. In many places around the room were pictures of various members of Ari's family including two of himself. They all seemed to pose proudly over kills or bound victim's. At least two of Ari's relative's were dressed in Nazi SS regalia. Katherine's eyes went cold and the few agents that could see her face began to back away from her slowly. Fache noticed this immediately and touched her shoulder, this seemed to ground her again as it had earlier. Along each wall was a series of many drawers but each small in size.

Collet began sifting through a drawer, countless little envelope's were inside. When he opened an envelope he found a couple pages of writings and several photographs. Before and after shot's. "Captain you should see this."

Fache squeezed Katherine's shoulder slightly before moving over to Collet. He quickly realized what the envelopes meant. "Records of their kills?"

"This drawers have name's and time periods listed on them. This is like a record hall for them. For Ari's family." Katherine whispered as she studied the photograph's. "He wasn't kidding when he said it goes back to before the world wars. It has to go back to the original revolution here. How many are there?"

"Too many. We have to call the minister and warn him." Fache cursed.

"I'll do it. I need the fresh air." Katherine volunteered before swiftly leaving the room. Once outside she sat of the front step and pulled out her cell phone, dialing a number she was now familiar with. "Minister, we have a bit of a situation."

_"Yes, I was told about Ari and Lestrange already. Thank you for your assistance once more."_ Minister Raffarin sounded pleased.

"It's bigger then that." She paused slightly. "We just found proof that Ari's family has been doing this for at least one hundred years. Each generation seems to have kept through records of each kill they made. It will take sometime before we can actually go through each record and try to identify all of them."

He didn't reply for a few moments,_ "What do you need to get this job done?"_

"Fache's entire team and many if not all of the forensics are already helping. We may need to call in other teams to do the ground pounding. It'll hard enough to compile all of the evidence we already have much less locate victims families and so on. Fache can tell you specifically what is needed the most, I'll be assisting where I can. And your going to need to prepare some sort of press release, it will probably be mandatory for a situation like this. There could well be many people of multiple nationalities involved, so you'd best prepare for all of that as well."

_"I understand. I want you or Fache to keep me apprised of events and give regular status reports."_ He requested quietly, his voice held shock, horror and even some pain.

"Agreed. I better let you go and help finish processing this location." She sighed as she hung up. Taking a moment longer for a deep breathe, she headed back inside. As she went back into the records room she headed straight to Fache. "He wants to be kept up to date and said you would get what resources that was needed. I told him you'd call him with specifics. You know the local resources better than I do."

"Thank you, ma cheri. You should go home and rest." Fache pulled her close as she began to protest. "Everyone needs to get some rest, we've already call in a couple squads to help guard these crime scene's. I won't be far behind you ma cheri, I promise."

"Alright." She sighed tiredly. Scene's like this always toke a lot out of her. And it wouldn't do any good to fight with Bezu right now. "Just come home soon, okay?"

"I promise." He squeezed her hand before she moved off again. It took him almost an hour and a half to get back to Katherine's house. On the way he stopped by his own home to pick up some of his things. Quickly going into her rooms, he found her curled up in bed fast asleep clutching Bezu's pillow tightly. He smiled at the sight, gently brushing some hair out of her face making her murmur and release the pillow. He soon joined her in bed, holding her close as he too fell into a much needed sleep.

Chapter 24

Only a few hours later in the early morning, the story of Ari and Lestrange's capture broke across international news channel's. The minister, thankfully, had held a press conference as Katherine had suggested and that became an asset to the teams working the case. The minister had praised Fache, his team, the forensics agents and Katherine for the diligence they had shown in tracking down the criminals. Countless database's and forensics groups came forward offering to help with the cataloging process of the records. Both Fache and the minister consulted Katherine about who could be trusted with this sort of job, as this was her area of expertise. With only two groups hand picked by Katherine they were flying through the work quickly, freeing some agents to work on other cases. Within a six day period after that all the records had been copied into their own brand new database. The teams toke over the database with the help of its creators and began looking for ways to give some families peace of mind, or rather what peace could be gained. All that need to be done was have someone at a computer post twenty four – seven. Rotating shifts of course. It would merely cause more problems and burn too many people out if it wasn't done properly.

Amazingly enough it was relatively simple to set a timeline and track things from there. One full week after the record room had been found almost all of the records had been identified because, amazingly enough, most of the records carried names and key information in them. There was over eight hundred kills between the period of eighteen hundred to the present. Around six hundred had actually addresses from work or homes of the victim's. Lists were constantly being upgraded with the press and online. Time would tell about those who were touched by the madness of this family.

Somehow in all the chaos Fache was able to get away for short periods of time and went looking for the perfect ring. Store after store was visited with no success. He almost began to give up with the idea of a traditional ring when he found one that reminded him in so many ways. A beautiful white gold with a series of diamonds arranged like a six pointed flower in the center and two small light colored emeralds on either side taking on the look of two leaves peaking from under the flower. It also came with a necklace, bracelet and a set of earring's, they would be perfect for anniversaries or presents. And he planned on having plenty of them.

"I'll take these." He pointed at the set firmly. "Separate cases please."

"Yes, sir." The sales woman smiled as she toke the set out of the window case gently, placing them into four cases before placing them into a bag. Fache handed her his credit card without asking the price. This was for Katherine, price didn't matter to him. He signed the electronic pad and the sales woman handed him his card and the receipt. Taking the bag he left the store quickly. He had to hide them before Katherine gets the chance to see it. But where?

8888888888888888888888888888

Katherine herself was thinking of the future she wished to have with Bezu. They had known each other for a relatively short time period but in that time she had come to love him and realize he was the only one that could ever truly have her heart. No matter what it may sound like, he was her soul mate. God how lame those words sounded, but still they were the truth. She turned back to the computer that had been found at Ari's, it was hooked up to her own computer system that was set up in Fache's office. The quicker this work was completed the quicker she could be with Bezu. The quicker she could take her father's family ring from the vault. Hopefully it would be worn again, and for a long time to come.

"What the hell?" Katherine muttered as she rapidly clicked through several screen windows. "Oh dear god!" She gasped, staring at the monitors dazed for a few moments before snapping back into the present. She rushed to the door of the office and threw it open attracting the attention of the agents in the room. "Get everyone together now! Especially Bezu! NOW!" She roared at them and they immediately started running around doing as she asked as she went back into Bezu's office to prepare everything to show the others. She only prayed to god she was wrong.

888888888888888888888888888

"What is it? What is wrong?" Fache asked as he went straight to Katherine.

"Things with Ari might be a little more complicated then we ever thought." She sighed, and everyone in the conference room froze. Katherine hit a button on the remote making the screen projector come to life. "As you can see here and here," she pointed. "He's been in regular contact with a specific group of people. Normally I'd just make note of it for further investigation later but when I clicked through the corresponding image files that had been downloaded I found something rather disturbing." She clicked another button and a series of images came up. Several agents, even some of the more experienced, became green in the face.

"Merde!" Collet cursed, "There could be more of these monsters?"

"Quite possibly. I went through the emails and link traces with almost everything at my disposal. I managed to get a few of their real names and the computer systems are running for information on them. But I have no idea how long that will take. Here's what I do have." She clicked a button again and a few new screens popped up. "Each of these people have family that were in the Nazi SS teams stationed here in France, most of them went on their way to other countries but based on the evidence they've somehow all kept in contact. The computerized communications contain information about some of there family members in a wide range of areas. It is because of this and the images that I have come to these conclusions."

Fache ran a hand through his hair quickly, "Are there anymore here in Paris?"

"Yes, three from what I can tell. But I don't have exact locations for any of them. I uploaded copies of the information on the database for everyone." Katherine nodded.

"We will find these _people_." Fache spat out. "We have enough probable cause to detain and question them. Let's get to work! And pray to God that we are wrong."

888888888888888888888888

This time it was Fache who contacted the mayor directly. And it wasn't received well. Katherine watched from the couch as he paced his office listening to the minister on the speaker phone.

"Yes sir. We're going to investigate this thoroughly I promise you."

_"Are there any other possibilities for this? Can it be anything else?"_

"There are always other possibilities but the people involved and the evidence supports this as a very strong one. Katherine has asked an FBI profiler team to look at the evidence we have gathered and come up with there own conclusions as well as a way to help identify those involved." Fache began to pace again.

_"Is it wise bringing in an outside team much less a team from another continent? No offense to Lady Katherine intended of course."_

"Minister, I've arranged for complete secrecy about this case until some time after its closure. Until I tell them otherwise they won't 'remember' anything. The President himself gave orders to this effect. I know one of the leaders of this team personally. He knows to use discretion and we have watched each others back under fire many times. If he can trust his team with this then I trust his judgment." Katherine interjected before Fache could reply.

_"Very well. I still wish to be informed of any and all updates. This is your offices primary investigation until it is solved Fache."_

"Yes sir." Fache replied sharply and the minister hung up. He turned to her. "I pray they will have something soon, ma cheri."

"As do I, Bezu. Gideon doesn't let things go until there taken care of. He won't be stopped until he follows all potential paths to where this could lead, no matter the cost. It's the way he is."

88888888888888888888888888

Chapter 25

"Gideon," Garcia called as she entered the round table room and agent carrying two boxes followed, set them on the desk and then left closing the door behind him. "This is the latest from Lady Evans and Captain Fache. It's really wacked. Way more then the normal weird we deal with."

Gideon opened on box, "Thanks Garcia. How is the cross referencing going?"

"So far Lady Evans has been right. I got more detail then she did but she had the gist of it all. I've added the new stuff in too."

"And the woman they found? What's her condition?" Hotchner asked.

"The hospital said it was like the Jews at Auschwitz or Dachau." She said visibly shaken. "The doctor's said almost every bone, except for her vertebrae, had been broken at least once. Ninty nine percent of her body was bruised and had lacerations. She'll be lucky to be able to walk normally ever again. We're still trying to find her family. Lady Evans has already paid down for all the hospital and physical therapy costs." The rest of the team gained various looks of shock or anger at her description. Even Gideon himself was affected.

"Alright let's go over what we know." Gideon brought everyone back onto topic. "This group are mainly descendants of Nazi SS officers. After the war they settled down in multiple countries including France, Germany, Italy, America, Greece, Rome and Czech."

"From the medical files found, they continued with Karl Brandt's experiments that were conducted at Auschwitz or Dachau. Just from Ari and Lestrange's records indicate that some of these families have been doing this torture and kills since the early eighteen hundreds. Over eight hundred kills were listed." Reid spoke up examining some of the pictures.

"The members have used various methods to communicate back and forth, more recently using email and other higher tech methods." Morgan sighed. "These people are total sociopath narcissists and sexual sadists. Like the Nazi's they believe that there are a higher class of people or Aryan's above the rest of the human race. The Nazi Party pursued its aims through persecution and killing of those considered 'impure,' especially targeting minority groups such as Jews, Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals."

"The Nazis also undertook programs targeting 'weak' or 'unfit' people, such as the T-4 Euthanasia Program, killing tens of thousands of disabled and sick Germans in an effort to 'maintain the purity of the German Master race', or _Herrenvolk_, as described by Nazi propagandists. crucial to the building of loyalty and comradeship was the implementation of the National Labor Service and the Hitler Youth Organization, with the former being compulsory and the latter consisting of nearly six million boys and girls." Hotchner muttered examining the files before him.

"Historically the Waffen-SS, or 'Armed SS', was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel. Headed by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, the Waffen-SS saw action throughout the Second World War. A small percentage of its nearly 1 million men were charged with war crimes at Nuremberg. After beginning as a protection unit for the NSDAP leadership, the Waffen-SS eventually grew into a force of thirty-eight combat divisions comprising over 950,000 men, including a number of elite army units. In the testimony given at the Nuremberg Trials, the Waffen-SS was condemned as a criminal organisation due to their involvement with the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP), and Waffen-SS veterans were denied many of the rights afforded other German combat veterans who had served in the Heer, Luftwaffe or Kriegsmarine. Conscripts were exempted from the judgment on the basis of involuntary servitude." Reid went into a short lecture mode.

"It's like there trying to recreate these supposed ideals today." JJ said disgusted.

"I searched for records on the families that have been traced through the emails. Some of the families that were listed were from among the highest ranks of the SS command originally sent to France in 1940. Those same people were also noted to have used many torture and experimentation on prisoners. Some were tried but a few got off the hook." Garcia piped up from her new computer terminal set up in the conference room bringing several of the records up on the large tv's in the room. Profile's or basic information began to pop up on various people. "With Captain Fache's help I got access to the European databases and ran through them for a more through information pull."

"Alright we know they are in a cohesive group with a high level of organization spanning almost two hundred years. The general consensus is that they have a sociopathic narcissistic nature and are sexual sadists. Correct?" Gideon summarized. "That not all of it. It's incomplete."

"So what are we missing?" Hotchner asked.

"Wait, wait. I know I'm not a profiler and all but when I was cross referencing this stuff I found something really weird. How weird I don't know. But one of these guys ties a whole bunch of them together. From everything I've read he's got to be one of the bigwigs of the group. His name is Jacob Himmler. He currently lives in Paris, France."

"I'll pass this on Fache and Evans." Gideon said as he punched in her number on his cell phone.

8888888888888888888888888888888

Katherine looked at her pocket at the ringing sound, interrupting the conference room gathering of the DCPJ agents. "Yes?"

_"We found a person of interest."_

"I'm listening."

_"His name is Jacob Himmler. And he's in Paris. Garcia is sending you the information we've gathered so far but I thought it best to tell you directly."_

"Understood and thank you Gideon. Please continue looking."

_"Of course, just let us know of any new evidence that comes up that could add to the profile."_

"Agreed." She last replied before hanging up. Those in the conference room looked at her expectantly. "The BAU found there is one person of interest. His name is Jacob Himmler. He lives here in Paris. BAU is sending what info they have on him."

Moriana taped on his laptop pulling up the database email on the screen, "Confirmed, I've got a basic profile here. He was born in Berlin Germany on June 25th of 1940. His mother was Margaret Siegroth nee Boden and his father was……"

"_The_ Heirich Luitpold Himmler." Katherine muttered darkly. "Well that explains a lot."

"Wait the Nazi doctor Himmler? The one who experimented on Jews and allied soldiers in the camps?" Sophie questioned quietly.

"Yes, that Himmler." Katherine confirmed.

"The history of Himmler's service is rather notorius. Himmler joined the SS in 1925, and in 1927 was appointed deputy reichsführer-SS, a role he took very seriously. Upon the resignation of SS Commander Erhard Heiden, Himmler was appointed Reichsführer-SS in January 1929. At that time the SS had 280 members, and was considered a mere battalion of the much larger SA. Himmler was only considered to be an SA-Oberführer, but after 1929 he referred to himself as 'Reichsführer-SS.' By 1933, when the Nazi Party gained power in Germany, Himmler's SS numbered 52,000 members. The organization had developed strict membership requirements ensuring that all members were of Adolf Hitler's 'Aryan Herrenvolk' or 'Aryan master race'. Now a _Gruppenführer_ in the SA, Himmler, along with his deputy Reinhard Heydrich, next began a massive effort to separate the SS from SA control; he introduced black SS uniforms (designed by Hugo Boss) to replace the SA brown shirts in the autumn of 1933. Shortly thereafter, he was promoted to _SS-Obergruppenführer und Reichsführer-SS_ and became an equal of the senior SA commanders, who by this time loathed the SS and the power it held. Himmler, Hermann Göering, and General Werner von Blomberg agreed that the SA and its leader Ernst Röhm posed a threat to the German Army and the Nazi leadership of Germany. Röhm had strong socialist views and believed that, although Hitler had successfully gained power in Germany, the "real" revolution had not yet begun, leaving some Nazi leaders believing Röhm was intent on using the SA to administer a coup."

"With persuasion from Himmler and Göering, Hitler agreed that Röhm had to die. He delegated the task of Röhm's demise to Himmler and Göering who, along with Reinhard Heydrich, Kurt Daluege and Walter Schellenberg, ordered the execution of Röhm (carried out by Theodor Eicke) and other senior SA officials, as well as some of Hitler's personal enemies (like Gregor Strasser and Kurt von Schleicher) on June 30, 1934, in what became known as 'The Night of the Long Knives'. The next day, Himmler's title of Reichsführer-SS became a rank to which he was appointed, and the SS became an independent organization of the Nazi Party."

"In 1936 Himmler gained further authority as all of Germany's uniformed law enforcement agencies were amalgamated into the new _Ordnungspolizei_, whose main office became a headquarters branch of the SS as Himmler was accorded the title Chief of the German Police. Himmler, however, was never able to gain operational control over the uniformed police. The actual powers granted to him with the appointment were those previously exercised in police matters by the ministry of the interior, and not even all of those. It was only in 1943, when Himmler was appointed Minister of the Interior, that the transfer of ministerial power was complete. Indeed, his full title was Reichsführer SS and Chief of the German Police in the Ministry of the Interior (abbreviated as RFSSuCdDPidMI), which clearly indicates the limits of his brief, and though Himmler tended to omit the idMI in correspondence, his powers remained as they were. Germany's political police forces came under Himmler's authority in 1934, when he organized them into the _Gestapo_ as well as Germany's entire _concentration camps_ complex. Once war began, though, new internment camps not formally classified as concentration camps would be established, over which Himmler and the SS would not exercise control. In 1943, following the outbreak of popular word-of-mouth criticism of the regime as a result of the Stalingrad disaster, the party apparatus, professing disappointment with the Gestapo's performance in deterring such criticism, established the so-called Politische Staffeln as its own political policing organ, destroying the Gestapo's nominal monopoly in this field. With his 1936 appointment, Himmler also gained ministerial authority over Germany's non-political detective forces, known as _Kripo_, which he attempted to combine with the Gestapo into the _Sicherheitspolizei_, placed under the command of Reinhard Heydrich, and thus gain operational control over Germany's entire detective force. But the merger remained a dead letter within the Reich, with Kripo remaining firmly under the control of the civilian administration and later the party apparatus as the latter annexed the civilian administration. However, in occupied territories not incorporated into the Reich proper it mostly proved effective. Following the outbreak of World War II, Himmler formed the _Reichssicherheitshauptamt_ (Reich Security Main Office) wherein Gestapo, Kripo and the _SD_ became departments. Attempts in 1940 to use the new RSHA structure to gain control over Kripo by giving RSHA regional officers command authority over Kripo offices in their jurisdictions were rebuffed. The SS was also developing its military branch, known as the _SS-Verfügungstruppe_, which would later become known as the Waffen-SS." Claude had once again gone off into lecture mode.

"Historians are divided on the psychology, motives and influences that drove Himmler. Some see him as a willing dupe of Hitler, fully under his influence and seeing himself essentially as a tool, carrying Hitler's views to their logical conclusion. A key issue in understanding Himmler is to what extent he was a primary instigator and developer of anti-Semitism and racial murder in Nazi Germany in his own right, and not totally within Hitler's control, or was simply the executor of Hitler's direct orders. A related issue is the extent to which anti-semitism and racism were primary motives for him, over and above self-aggrandisement, accumulation of power and influence." Robert added from his own seat next to Sophie. "Himmler to some extent answered this himself saying if Hitler were to tell him to shoot his mother, he would do it and 'be proud of the Führer's confidence'. It was this unconditional loyalty that was the driving force behind Himmler's unlikely career. Most commentators agree that commitment to Hitler's murderous racism made Himmler the mastermind of ethnic cleansing and the Holocaust. According to the Jewish Virtual Library, Himmler's decisive innovation was to transform the race question from _'a negative concept based on matter-of-course anti-Semitism'_ into _'an organizational task for building up the SS ... It was Himmler's master stroke that he succeeded in indoctrinating the SS with an apocalyptic 'idealism' beyond all guilt and responsibility, which rationalized mass murder as a form of martyrdom and harshness towards oneself.'_ A main focus of recent work on Himmler has been the extent to which he competed for, and craved, Hitler's attention and respect, along with other Nazi leaders. The events of the last days of the war, when he abandoned Hitler and began separate negotiations with the Allies, are obviously significant in this respect. Himmler appears to have had a completely distorted view of how he was perceived by the Allies; he intended to meet with US and British leaders and have discussions 'as gentlemen'. He tried to buy off their vengeance by last-minute reprieves for Jews and important prisoners. According to British soldiers who arrested Himmler, he was genuinely shocked to be treated as a prisoner." Claude summarized, blushing brightly, realizing her tone and lecture as she toke over the conversation.

"I know, I've interviewed victims and there families. The stories they told…" Katherine trailed off staring into space. Fache touched her hand gently pulling her back into the present. "My grandfather helped liberate some of the camps. Including what few survived Auschwitz, Belzec and Dachau. I've even visited the camps myself. It was like seeing the souls of those who much such a dark fate that they didn't deserve."

Silence filled the room as everyone processed this information that seemed to have suddenly been dumped on them. They now knew some of the memories that haunted the Lady having seen her reaction to the torture rooms. Several people knew families that had survived persecution of the original Nazi's. Those were some of the darkest times of Europe and of France. It was a time all remembered or learned to learn from it for the future.

"So what does that make Jacob Himmler?" Collet asked somewhat softly.

"From the impression of who his parents are I am not surprised that he would be involved in this. What does the rest of his profile say?" Katherine asked and they turned to Moriana.

"He was actually adopted very young no more then six years old. Blond hair, blue eyes and roughly five foot ten. He has one sister, a naturally born daughter of the Himmlers, named Gurdun. She's dead, as with both of their parents. Jacob was married to Jane Himmler nee Schmitz until five years ago, died from cancer. They have two children Matthew and Margaret, both unmarried and no children to the best of the records…"

"Thank god." Someone muttered and many agreed with those sentiments.

"Both seemed to have steady grades from prominent private schools and employment after completing university. Matthew graduated with a…medical degree." Curses sounded through out the room at this. "Margaret graduated with a ….criminal justice degree???"

"What!" Several shouted in shock.

Moriana glared at them a little, "Hey, I'm only reading what's here! They both graduated from Oxford."

"It seems that there daddy spared no expenses for formal educations. Wonder what he taught them privately?" Katherine chuckled darkly. "Go on…"

"Um, yes ma'am. Jacob himself graduated from Oxford with a degree in German and historical studies. He worked primarily in translation work. Fluent in German, English, French and Italian. He retired rather wealthily ten years ago. It seems that both Jacob and Matthew have been arrested a few times for various forms of harassment. More recently a restraining order was taken out against Matthew and it was reported almost a week ago that he broke it."

"Good something else we can charge him with. And hold him for. Is there anything else of note?" Fache asked.

"No sir. We have addresses for all three."

"Good, they'll be arrested simultaneously. I want at least two for each. We'll go in half an hour. Collet will lead the raid on the son. Moriana leads on the daughter. Katherine and I will take the old man." Fache ordered and rose from his seat with Katherine in unison. The other agents heading on there own way to prepare for the coming raids.

888888888888888888888888

Chapter 26

Katherine and Fache were leading the raids on Jacob Himmler, while Collet and Moriana let raids for Mark and Margaret. There was one big difference though, this time everyone was filly loaded for any possibilities of violence. Katherine was in a black SWAT type uniform, a specialized body armor vest held several clips of ammo and various others weapons were tucked here and there. She looked every bit the soldier she had once been. Three large trucks hauled the majority of agents to their raid sites, all of them knew exactly where to go and how to go.

"Five minutes until target!" An agent shouted from the front passenger seat. Both Fache and Katherine moved to the front of back doors. Everyone readied themselves for the signal, "NOW!"

They burst from the doors and ran the short way to the front doors. An agent moved forward with the door ram but Katherine merely kicked the door hard, almost breaking it from its hinges. Many eyes widened for mere moments before they followed her and Fache into the town home. The first floor was cleared quickly and they moved up to the second floor, Fache in the lead. Just as he was about to enter through one of the doors, Katherine grabbed the back of his vest and yanked him back. Just in time to be spared from five large rounds that blasted from inside the room.

Fache nodded to Katherine before they moved to either side of the doorway. Katherine motion briefly before taking out what appeared to be a mace jar. She clicked one end before throwing it through the openings, there was a loud bang and smoke billowed outward. Both stormed into the room and secured the disoriented old man. Immediately they could tell that the only reason he was taken down so quickly and with little damage or any injuries was because he was simply to old and frail to give much of a fight.

"How do you think the other raids went down?" Katherine asked Fache as they watched an agent put him into a squad car.

"I honestly have no idea with these monsters involved." He replied before both were distracted by an agent from forensics. "Yes?"

"Both Collet and Moriana's teams are having problems with apprehending Matthew and Margaret. Matthew was at the hospital for his shift, he's already fought off two agents and is threatening them with a small firearm. Margaret was actually in her own little torture room working on someone, she has him as a hostage and uses him for a shield when they try to get a clear line of fire. We also were able to get a visual on another body, looks like a gun shot wound to the head."

"Crap, I'll take the girl." Katherine cursed.

"Are you sure?" Fache asked and was immediately met with a glare that promised he would be sleeping on the couch for a while. "Never mind."

8888888888888888888888

Chapter 27

"Wake up, sweet thing. Wake up."

The soft crooning of the gentle voice was as melodious as a Motown lullaby, but it brought Mac back to consciousness like a cold spike shoved into his vitals. It took his mind a moment to catch up with the reaction, but the abrupt attempt to lunge to his feet got him nowhere. He was in her dungeon, Margaret's, secured over the large spanking bench didn't even quiver when he yanked against his bonds. His waist was on the edge of the bench, his knees pressed into the cold floor. An iron bar attached to a strap around his legs just above each knee held his thighs apart, wide enough that the position made certain bits hang free.

His wrists were cuffed and the rings on those cuffs clipped to the straps, so his arms were held immobile at his sides. He had no way to protect his skull from the single bullet he was sure the woman somewhere beyond his field of vision intended to put into it. His head was unsupported over the edge of the bench, his neck muscles groaning in protest.

"Would you like to hear my secrets, Mac? The ones you've been trying so hard to figure out back in America."

Her voice stayed whisper soft. He knew that type of voice, knew the ice that climbed up his spine from hearing it was not an overreaction.

"I'd rather have you turn me loose," he said mildly, but since I suspect that's out of the question, go for it."

_Blab all you want. Give me some time to think, figure out what chance I've got not to be victim of this bitch._

"You try to play it down," she observed, "But I know how miserable you are. How miserable all of us are. But a Dom cannot escape the pain. She must face it, help her slaves find a release to it, ironically through the experience of physical pain. Do you know what the source of all of it is?"

Mac shook his head. "No."

Abruptly his back was on fire, as a lash came down on it from somewhere behind him. Hooked with barbed tips, it took his flesh with it when it was yanked away.

"No, Mistress," she snapped.

Swearing through a haze of pain, Mac bared his teeth. "Your not my mistress, bitch, so beat me to death, you won't hear it from my lips."

He heard the movement of air as an arm was drawn back for another strike, but the blow did not come. Ten tense seconds passed before she spoke again, and this time her voice was laced with amusement.

"As we told Violet, you're a treasure. Jonathan, please put down the cat and go get the other item I wanted to use."

As Jonathan's footsteps retreated, Margaret's came closer and then she was in his field of vision, standing before him. She wore a black unitard, no jewelry, her hair slicked back from her face, her boots laced securely to her thighs. Latex black gloves covered her hands up to her elbows. She took a seat in the couch, crossed her legs and laid an arm along the back, as if she had nothing but time, but her eyes had a singular intensity that felt like she was drilling holes in his head already.

"So where is your brother? Is he part of this unholy trinity?"

"Mac," she said, "you don't need to worry about being a cop. You're going to be dead shortly, and all that matters is you'll be free of pain, of having to hide who you are."

"I admit, Jonathan surprises me. You're not a tremendous surprise, all in all, but he is."

"Oh, there are even more startling things than that." Jonathan's footsteps returned. Mac jerked away at the rough touch on his jaw, but it was a futile gesture. Jonathan merely wrenched back his head with enough force to sprain muscles and shoved the ball gag into Mac's mouth, strapping it tightly around his head.

Margaret wanted them impassively, then waved Jonathan back. "Give him ten lashes, love, to focus him on what I'm about to tell him, then I want you to go cuff your left hand and left foot to St. Andrew's cross. I'll come to finish binding you in a moment. We want to be all ready to play when Violet and my brother gets here."

That cold hand around his intestines tightened exponentially and Mac's lips lifted in a snarl he could not voice around the gag.

"Ten, mistress? With the barb?"

"Yes. Don't worry, love. I told you, he likes pain. Violet will be fine with it."

"She looked down at Mac, the corner of her mouth curving. Those large dark eyes were trapped somewhere between lust and pain. Both characteristics obviously dwelled within her in such phenomenal quantities that it was like looking at a person with a demon inside her. The monster was far larger than the body housing it, so that it made every word she said seem distorted, every facial expression an obscene aberration. It was something Mac was sure Jonathan could not see. He could, because in his line of work, he had seen it up close and personal. A person so far gone in death, blood and their own pain that there was nothing that could save them.

"I told Jonathan how you and I used to play together, and that you enjoyed kidnap scenarios," she said evenly. "I asked Tyler to leave Violet a message this morning, before he went out of town on his book tour, asking her to meet me here this evening for a very special surprise for her. Jonathan rather hate you, so he wasn't to keen on helping fulfill one of your fantasies at first. Then I told him you didn't really have any set boundaries, though I've discovered there are certain things you dislike. So my gift to Jonathan for helping is letting him fuck you in the ass. Jonathan's not really into man, but he does have an appreciation for the things that can cut someone's ego down to size, and I personally will enjoy seeing you suffer a bit. He really is like a Dom in sub clothing, a sort of twisted one, but an interesting specimen altogether." A fond look came into her eyes at something Mac was glad he could not see. "Look at him. He's getting hard, just thinking about it. Jonathan, do my bidding."

"With pleasure, mistress."

Mac sunk his teeth into the heavy rubber of the gag as the metal barb tips struck his back, jerkin off more flesh.

Margaret watched him, her face detached. She was in a place where she was seeing things that weren't visible to the rest of them, Mac knew, and it did not seem to bring her any joy, just grim purpose that boded ill for all of them.

"I can lash you so you'll feel the pain, but it won't draw blood. Jonathan has less experience at that. You'll just have to live with the scarring, at least for a short time." She blinked once. A second and third strike fell, and Mac felt the pain jolt through his body like an electrical current. His shoulder began to itch, as the blood made it's was down his back over his biceps, getting slowed in the hair of his arms.

"Very few can take it without screaming, but I know you can. Violet is going to be so impressed with your stamina."

The last stroke fell a few moments later, when all of them merged into one vibrating field of pain on his back. Just as he released his breath, an eleventh came, striking across his ass, a barb catching his scrotum. His incisors sank down, slicing through the hard rubber, the reaction singing up through his gums and jaw.

"Jonathan that was very naughty. Go cuff yourself."

"Yes, mistress. My apologies, mistress." Jonathan snickered.

The pain was unbelievable, worse than being shot, and for this there was no adrenaline kick in, nothing but throbbing, tearing agony.

"Now that you're paying attention, I'm going to tell you my secrets," she said rising. She squatted down next to Mac and stroked her hand over his hair in her long fingers, following her cheek bone with her nail, pressing down a little to hard, watching him as she traced the soft skin just below the vulnerable eye. Mac kept his gaze steady on hers.

There was no fear now, only fury. He wouldn't give her fear, which meant he couldn't think about Violet getting here. He has to resolve this before then, one way or another.

"You know I like to mix potions. That cat was tipped in a very special mixture I make to punish my baddest boys, It's an alcohol base, mixed with a derivative of crushed nettle juice. Highly irritating, isn't it? It will keep hurting this badly all the way up to the last moment."

She brought her head down closer, so she could speak softly, where Jonathan could not hear. "I don't like to make my subs suffer just for the sake of pain. I draw their pain from them and then I release them with that one shot to the head. You're going to know it's coming, but I didn't want it that way. I don't want to hurt you except in ways that will give you release, focus you on what's important." She glanced towards Jonathan, now cuffed and waiting for her to finish restraining him, making him helpless as Mac. "But him I intend to shoot between the eyes. Give him a full minute to see it coming, because he's a heartless bastard. Justice can be almost as invigorating as mercy killings, hmm?"

She smiled, feathering his hair off his forehead, as if she were stroking a puppy. "Lord, you are magnificent, you know that? I don't know what it is to you. I suppose your thinking that they will know who did this. Yes, yes they most likely will. So I suppose I'll have to wait for them to come and take care of them as well, just as I'll take care of Violet. I'm thinking of making it look like one of those 'sad, perverted life' stories. I'm sure there will be a full departmental investigation back in Tampa because how could we allow our fine police force to be infiltrated by such a sexual deviant?"

She stroked her finger down the line of his throat, her voice softening. "For you see, that's the problem. We all know what we are, but the world will never accept us. Would you like to hear a sad story?"

_'I'd like to put you out of your misery before Violet gets here',_ he thought grimly. How long did he have? Ten minutes? Five? An hour? If Violet had gone to visit her cousin who was studying here at the American University. He tried not to think what Margaret could do to him in that amount of time, since she'd manage to inflict enough damage in less then thirty seconds, but it would give him more time to plot a way to stop her before Violet got here. Or maybe Violet wouldn't come. Maybe she's left a message on his machine that she's decided to stay overnight at her mom's, or was running late.

_'Christ, Nighthorse. Focus. Jonathan's out of the picture, so figure out a way to overpower her. While hogtied to a bench bolted to the floor. Good trick.'_

"My brother tried to tell me from the beginning. You see, he knew when we were twelve what he was. I was his first submissive. I delighted on pleasing him. I could sit at his feet for hours just for the pleasure of his touch on my hair. But he trained me to be a mistress with him, to understand what it was to release people's emotions through pain, enjoy the sensuality of that, the give and take. When to hold the reins tight, when to let a sub have his head and when to put it to good use." Her lips curved. "One of them came to be quite dear to me. Long after my brother became bored with him. He didn't really approve of us playing separately, so I had to hide my times with him. It made it even more exciting." Her eyes grew darker and Mac watched the changes in inflection, learning everything he could about her changes in mood and what they meant.

"But I wanted more. For the first time in my life. I wanted to wake up with a man around me in the morning. Silly, wasn't it? Totally impossible for people like us. Matthew told me over and over, but sometimes the heart just doesn't listen, does it? I told him what I wanted, and he said he couldn't. That he loved me but eventually he was going to have to give up the scene and settle down with someone vanilla, that there was no way he could live his life like this forever and get where he wanted in his career. I lost my pride. I told him I could do that, would do that for him. He cried, told me 'together we'd always want to play the game.' I could see how much it hurt him, what we could never have but wanted so much. It tore me to pieces. It was inevitable that brother found out about him, of course. I'm a mistress, but I'm his sub, and your master always know everything you're thinking. You and Violet aren't there yet, but you would have been, you already sensed it coming. I broke down and told Matthew everything, the pain was so awful, his rejection. He loved me, has always looked out for me, so he found someone in the scene that looked like me, he sent her to his parents, told them what he was. Of course, it was his worst nightmare. Or he always said it would be."

Her expression shifted, became dreamy, the closest to tranquility Mac had yet seen reflected in her face. "She called me, told me that Matthew wanted me at his apartment, that he needed to show me something." She turned those soft brown eyes to him again. "You remember Bambi, the original book by Felix Salten, not the Disney whitewashed version? When the stag comes to get Bambi, to show him Man, with a capital M, lying dead on the forest floor, shot in a hunting accident? And Bambi is so afraid to get close, because the idea of Man was larger than life to him, something that was beyond his understanding. I was afraid like that when I walked into the room, smelled the blood. I was so afraid, because he was an extension of who I am, and if it had become too much for him, it would become too much for me. But Matthew made me come look at him, look at his face. He had shot himself, and was lying on the bed, curled up as if sleeping. There were thin tracks dried on his cheeks, and the side of his head was all blood. But the amazing thing was his face. His expression. It was so peaceful, so…released at last. It was then I understood, something I don't think even Matthew understood as much as I did at that moment. All of them are looking for that release, all of them who are dedicating so much energy to hiding what they are, keeping it separate from the vanilla world. I can help. What is a sub but a person who wants to return to the bosom of an All-Powerful mistress or master, be watched over and cared for? Sometimes, I wish it was me. I imagine it is me, and I can be like them, at peace. But I'm a mistress, and it's up to me to take care of the sub, help them find pleasure through pain, release through death. It follows and fits, don't you see?

"'There is another who is over us all, over us and over him.' Just as Bambi said. I am the 'other' who can make things right for people like my love, my Thomas. We're all afraid to embrace death, even when we know it's the best thing for us. I could have helped him, so he never had to experience that awful moment with his parents. I could have released him and revealed his truth to them, so they would at last know, as he always wanted them to, but not be around to see their rejection or pain from it. He didn't have to suffer, none of you do. Struggle all you want, love," she noted the tensing of his muscles. "Those are lag bolts, holding that into an oak floor with solid sub-flooring beneath. Matthew entertains all sorts of guests here, drives them near insane, so he's made it strong. You'd have to be superman to get that loose." She rose, went to Jonathan. Mac shouted around the gag, tried in some way to communicate to Jonathan the fatal mistake he was about to make, fought the chains, the bench, shoving off with his knees, his thigh muscles straining. Jonathan glance over at him, then his attention was caught by his mistress as she fondled him. He had stripped down, so now he was as naked as Mac. Being naked in the same room with Jonathan was nauseating experience all by itself, but as Mac strained at his bonds, the lingering after effects of the drug they had given him only made him dizzier.

Margaret cuffed Jonathan's right hand, locking it to the cross, bent and did the same to his right foot, completing the process of making him helpless.

She came back to Mac, freed his gag with a rough jerk. "You can tell Jonathan what it is you wanted to say, now that I've gotten you all nicely trussed."

"You might as well kill us both and be done with it," Mac spat out blood, regretting that he just missed her boot. "Violet isn't coming."

"Of course she's coming. I expected her here already."

"Violet was involved in a car accident early in the week. She went to visit her cousin today."

Margaret stared at him for a long moment and Mac pulled his lip back in a feral grin. "Really messes up your plans doesn't it?"

"You're lying," she said flatly, though there was a seed of doubt in her eyes. "If that was true, you wouldn't have told me, to buy you more time."

"Unless I'm sick of listening to your babbling rationalizations of why it's okay to murder people in cold blood." Mac weighed his options and made his choice. Margaret wasn't going to believe anything except what would take her by surprise. "Violet is a cop, like me, Margaret. She shot someone in the line of duty this week. You'd have heard about it on the news. Remember, the highway driver killed by a statetrooper? That trooper was Violet. She got a flesh would and she's on desk duty now. No one really knows her plans because they were so last minute."

"Liar!" She seized the cat and Mac ducked his face automatically, protecting himself as she brought it down. It caught his ear, shoulder, the back of his neck, one cheekbone. The smell of his own blood, the burning pain of his back, all of it was adding to the nausea. _'If I'm going to die, let's get on with it before I have to throw up on myself.'_

"Why won't you understand that I'm trying to help you, release you from your pain? The hiding?"

"Because I accept who I am, Margaret," Mac snapped. "Unlike you and your dead boyfriend, I realized a long time ago that being a sub is just a part of who I am. An important part, but not all of it. I enjoy serving a mistress's pleasure, as much as I enjoy being a cop, or watching a Buccaneer's game, or spending a day out in the Gulf on my boat. Being a sub doesn't make me less of a man. And to Violet, it makes me more of one, more of what she wants. All your doing is making excuses. You're killing because you can't stand your own pain. Your brother fucked up your head early and you're acting out. It's not about you playing God, it's about the kill. Just seeing my blood is starting to make you shake. I can see it."

"What the hell is going on?" Jonathan demanded.

"well, welcome to the party at last," Mac said derisively. "She's going to shoot us both in the head and make it look like someone else did it. I'm a homicide cop and I've been tracking her. She's killed three other guys this past six weeks the same way. She'll call your parents after she does it, to make sure your nearest and dearest know what you are." He raised a brow, blinked against the blood running down into his eye. "Do you want my mother's phone number? Oh, sorry, that will mess you up further, because my mother died some time ago."

_'Thank God, because this would kill her.'_

"Shut up!" Margaret struck out again. This time her aim was wild, hitting him a glancing blow on the shoulder. She dropped it, turned to a cabinet and pulled out her gun, a polished nine millimeter, a Walther P99. A neat little gun to make a neat hole in his head. Mac forced himself to keep his eyes open as she jammed the barrel against his temple, her finger on the trigger.

"Jesus Christ." Jonathan yanked against his bonds as she suddenly whipped around and capped him between the eyes.

"I should kill you as quickly as him. You're the one who needs release. You're too angry. I can see how much pain your in."

"My, my." A voice came from the doorway. "A true sub would know better then to give a mistress orders."

88888888888888888888888

Chapter 28

_'Son of a bitch! Please don't be Violet.'_ Mac would have said it out loud if he thought it would help. He turned his head over, fighting the sick waves of pain rolling over him. A woman with long dark colored hair stood with a gun leveled at Margaret.

"You're not dressed for the occasion, whoever you are." Margaret said, her gaze and gun swinging toward her.

"I had thought to change before coming here directly Ms. Himmler, but I'm afraid your father and brother were being a bit of a pain in the ass. Happily that was rectified quickly."

"Who are you? How do you know who I am? And what have you done to my family?" Margaret became more agitated with each question she launched back to the mystery woman.

"Let's see. My name is Lady Katherine Evans. Consultant with the DCPJ. I know who you are because I know what you have been doing to innocent people. I've seen your handy work. And that of your _family_. As to what has been done with them…well I guess you'd have to surrender to see." Katherine replied her face becoming a mask and her eyes colder then ice, promising that _she_ would learn what pain truly was.

"So you're a mistress then?"

"I can be…or I can become your executioner if you do not stand down from this madness." Katherine slowly walked down the few steps, always keeping her gun trained on Margaret.

"Executioner?" Margaret laughed almost manically. "You! The DCPJ would never allow you to kill me so easily."

Katherine let a dark and promising smirk cross her face. "I said I was a consultant, not an agent. Besides I have this nice little slip of paper that declares I have diplomatic immunity. Meaning I can do what I damn well please and they wouldn't be able to so much as twitch at me." Katherine rammed into Margaret before she had time to fully process what she had said. They rolled on the ground before jumping back to their feet and began to circle each other. When Margaret tried to ram her back Katherine merely moved to the side letting her plow face first into a rack. Katherine brought up her gun and as Margaret turned to attack once more, she plugged a bullet between her eyes as she had done to Jonathan. Margaret slumped to the ground.

"Well, let's get you un-strapped." Katherine stepped over the new body. "I told the agents to give you a moment to put some pants on. Your mistress is outside waiting with the ambulance crew. I had to promise to bring you out alive to get her to wait." Katherine added as Mac tensed from putting on his pants once more. "She's perfectly safe I promise you."

Mac studied her briefly before nodding, "Thank you."

"No thanks are needed when I was able to free the world of one monster." Katherine replied as she escorted him out of the room and out of the townhouse, she nodded to a couple of agents as they went in. They returned the gesture. True to her word Violet was waiting next to the gurney.

As he sat on the gurney and the medics examined his wounds, Violet turned to her. "Thank you for helping him. Margaret?"

"Dead. She will never harm another ever again."

"What will happen now?"

"Her father and brother have been rounded up. We may need him," She nodded to Mac. "to testify if it goes to trial."

"We understand. Here's the hotel information." Violet handed her a slip of paper. "We'll most definitely be here for at least another week, probably more with this happening."

"I understand. They'll have to take him to the hospital and what not. We'll contact you soon." The two women shook hands before Violet climbed into the ambulance with Mac. Katherine closed the doors and banged her hand on the side of the truck loudly to let the driver know to go. He did. She watched as the ambulance disappeared from view before turning back and walking back into the house.

"What now ma'am?" Nathanial asked.

"We report what happened, exactly as it happened. We have recordings of what she said, that will had some help if anyone tries to raise a stink about it. Forensics is already at work, that evidence will strengthen our position ever further. I was left with no choice but to kill her to protect the only hostage that was still alive." She said succinctly. "Let's get all this squared away."

"Yes ma'am." Nathanial nodded. "Captain Fache's group were able to properly secure Matthew Himmler after they have him shot several times with a dart gun. I believe Agent Claude will need to practice more on the firing range again."

"Oh? Why's that?" Katherine's eye brow rose as she turned to look at him more closely.

"She shot him in the ass…twice." Nathanial grinned and Katherine just started laughing for a few minutes before finally calming down.

"I'll show her a few trick for female marksmen some other time." She moved off back towards the town home still chuckling. "Bet that was an interesting experience."


	4. Part 4

Athena's Daughter

By: Lady Kanko Wildstar

Chapters 29 - 32

Author's note: This is the third installment of the Athena's Daughter series. The first is roughly 8 chapters long. The second is around 11 chapters. I have no idea how long this one is going to be, so please be patient. Rated M for adult language and scenes. You have been warned. Now parts 1 – 3 are already up. This makes part 4. It's something that just got stuck in my head after I finished reading two of Dan Brown's novels: Angel & Demons, and the Da Vinci Code. I can't wait for the next book, The Solomon Key, comes out sometime this year supposedly.

I want to send out a thank you to Good And Evil on for letting me use there tango scene in chapter 1. Sin City Seer is the inspiration of the Jack the Ripper angle. There's also actual published authors that have inspired other scenes as well. Thank you so much!

Reviews are welcome as long as they are constructive critics or suggestions. Flames are not appreciated, though I understand that some will most likely try anyways.

You'll have noticed that some chapters are long while others very short. Dan Brown has done the same in his books. I thought it was fitting. Hopefully you have enjoyed it thus far because there is much more to come.

888888888888888888888888888

Chapter 29

"I hear you'll need some marksmanship lessons." Katherine smiled at Claude's deep blush. "Then again I managed to do the same when I was a beginner."

"Really?" Claude asked curiously.

"Oh yes, though my weapon wasn't a dart gun." Katherine's smile turned to a wide grin at Claude's astonished expression. "The gentleman in question survived but he is unable to procreate since one of the bullets went straight through a certain part of his anatomy. Then again he's on solitary death row so it's not like he could get any anyway."

Many of the men who listened in both winced and laughed, especially Fache and Collet. While the women just laughed and hooted out right in agreement.

"You see, when I originally started in just self defense alone, I was taught that the one main thing to free yourself from an attacking man was to aim for the family jewels. It seemed that it passed over into shooting as well." Katherine explained as she unzipped her vest. "Besides you have to admit, that being a woman, one automatically aims for that."

"True." Sophie chuckled.

"We'll figure out a time I can teach you a few tricks. For now we have some prisoners to interrogate." Katherine promised before moving into Fache's office to lock her weapons up in the gun safe that was stored there. It didn't take long for her, this was something she had done so many times before that it was now automatic for her. She kept one holster and weapon on her hip. Going back out she quickly joined Fache's group as they headed down to the interrogation rooms. When they got there they found that these rooms had also been remodeled by Katherine's friends.

"What other work have they done?" Fache asked looking through the glass curiously.

"I have no idea." Katherine replied as she took out her cell phone and dialed a number. "What work did you do here beyond what I asked?"

_"I thought where there was one change we may as well do it all. Her majesty also approved of the 'project' upon hearing of it. So we'll be taking care of everything with time. Right now crew one are remodeling the coroner's offices and autopsy rooms. Crew two is working on the forensic labs. And crew's three through five are working on various offices."_ His voice held much humor she could tell. And most definitely at her expense.

"You realize that this was not necessary." Katherine replied slightly stunned.

_"What you need to realize is that the Queen is grateful for Fache's teams and the DCPJ for revealing Ari's archives and connections. Several of the victim's were from noble blood and her majesty in the past was worried with their disappearances, now she knows the truth. She wished to express her appreciation and she won't take no for an answer."_ His voice sounded deadly serious now and she knew what he meant.

"Then express our thanks to her majesty for us." Katherine said before hanging up.

"Her majesty?" Collet questioned.

"Apparently some of the people we identified from the records were British and potentially nobles as well. Elizabeth granted my friend permission to remodel the entire DCPJ as a sign of thanks." Katherine chuckled at their shocked expressions, understanding now why her friend had so enjoyed her own reaction. "Focus boys and girls. We have work to do."

88888888888888888888888888

The door of Matthew's interrogation room opened and a lone woman stepped through with a thick folder in her hands. She moved with a grace and fluidness that spoke of many years of experience. She also carried herself like a true mistress would, not the fakes he had begun to see as of late, he could tell instantly.

"You have committed many crimes Matthew Himmler. Too many. That is one of the reasons why you are here. Though Agent Claude wishes to extend her apologies for having to shoot you in the ass twice however you left little choice." Her voice was thick and silken but hard as steel as she set the folder on the table.

"You trespassed on my territory, attacked me at my place of work in front of my patients and colleagues, and attempted to destroy my reputation in doing so." He replied calmly, projecting his own Dom presence.

"Your overstepped your bounds and responsibility as both a doctor and a Dom in these killings. You broke the oaths as a doctor to care for everyone of those who needs your help and expertise. You broke the trust your sub's gave you in their submissions to you. This is something that cannot be allowed to stand." She spoke from behind him as she slowly circled him. "I contacted the local scenes, and I told them of your family's actions. They wanted me to let you know that you will never be allowed to set foot within their properties and that all in the area, even visitors, will be warned against you. You are, essentially, banished."

"They have no right to do that!" He shouted.

"Oh but they do. The moment you were allowed to go into their group you signed an oath to a code of conduct. You broke that oath, thus you are not a true master any more. Any where. Some of the others are also informing the rest of the community's world wide. In the next couple of hours, everyone in the scene will know. Your friends and associates will be watched by not only them, but by police, agents and any other type of law enforcement. And at the slightest hint or reason they too will be banished or arrested. The rest of your family now share the same consequences as you."

His only response was to growl at her words, becoming slightly unfocused with his anger.

"Many have brought forth evidence against all of you, evidence that, collectively, could have you taken out and shot in so many ways." She leaned in slightly from behind him once more. "You've been a bad boy, Matthew. Maybe someone should teach you your place more properly."

"And that someone is you?" He growled back her, apparently finding some humor in her words.

"Yes." She replied simply once again moving away from him before continuing. "I unfortunately had to teach your sister her place already. I'm afraid she did not learn well before the end."

"What did you do to her?" He roared at her straining against the restraints that held him to the chair.

"She was incorrectly handling a sub when I found her. A sub that was not her's to touch without his mistresses permission. She attempted to attack me and I unfortunately had to kill her. She's most likely in hell, learning her place from a true master of the pain and darkness she so coveted." Her voice was taunting as he become enraged, straining against his bonds to get to her. "What? Can't handle the truth? Your friends loved to spout about their so called truth so very much. Pity they are unable to talk so freely now."

88888888888888888888888888

The group in the observation room watched in awe as Katherine broke Matthew Himmler down layer by layer. Delving into his almost animalistic nature and mind with an expert finesse few had ever seen. Her understanding of 'the scene' was astounding, though she had mentioned having friends into the lifestyle they didn't think she would know so much. Fache merely smiled grimly, he already knew of her plans before hand. It seemed she was taking just the right approach to get under Himmler's skin.

8888888888888888888888888

"Will you tell me? Will you share your past with me? I must admit I am curious as to how you managed to stay hidden for all these years." She whispered loudly into his ear after he had calmed down some. "I may even be willing to get your life spared if you entertain me well enough."

He snorted, "You don't have that kind of power."

"Oh but I do." She practically sang back at him. "It's the same reason why I can't be arrested for her death. It's the same reason why I can do anything and still get away with it. It's two of the most beautiful words in the world…diplomatic immunity."

"How'd a bitch like you get that?" He muttered.

"Through inheritance and deed." She grinned at his astonished face. "Yes, I see the light dawns in your eyes now."

"_Your_ Lady Evans?" He asked astonished.

"Indeed." She nodded, her face gained on a look of amusement, though her voice was very serious

"Why should I care about life or death? I do not fear it. As I do not fear the pain that can be brought upon human flesh." He tried to reply haughtily.

"Oh but you should. It's amazing how one can be inspired to use or create new techniques don't you think? After all, why not have fun with the darkest the world has to offer? Why would anyone care about one such as you?" She smiled darkly as he began to sweat profusely, her eyes boring into him as though going to his very soul. "Either talk or I'll make you talk."

888888888888888888888888888

"Well that was interesting." Katherine bounced down the hall to where the others were gathered roughly four hours later. She tilted her head slightly at their expressions. "Next?"

"You really are something you know, ma cheri." Fache chuckled before motioning to another room. She merely grinned one moment and then composed her self in the next marching into the room the same as she had in the past. The older man inside merely watched her with weary eyes.

"I would say it was a pleasure to meet you Mr. Himmler but that would be a lie. Especially after meeting your…offspring." She sneered tightly. "I'm afraid you won't be seeing either of them anytime soon as they are both…preoccupied at the moment."

"What have you done to them?" He asked harshly.

"Well, I'm afraid they were both shot." Her eyes seemed to glimmer coldly as Himmler's own eyes widened slightly. "Especially your daughter. My best work I must admit."

"You killed my girl." He growled eyes flashing.

"Yes. But why would you care for a female? After all aren't women second class or lower in your twisted little world? Didn't I alleviate your family of an unnecessary burden?" Katherine taunted as she circled him much like she had with his son.

"You should be careful what you say young lady for you do not know to whom you speak." He threatened.

"Oh but I do know what I'm speaking too. My family helped in the war and freed many prisoners your _father_ experimented on. And as to _whom _you are…well we have all your friends in other locations…secure locations. And they love to talk as long as they don't have to deal with _me_. After all I can be very creative." Katherine leaned forward on the edge of the table. "You just got lucky enough to speak with me."

He chuckled. "Lucky? To speak with an inferior? Ha!"

"Oh inferior am I? I taught your children there _place_ in this world. And that is under my boot or six feet underground." She growled back lightly, his face tightened even further. "No I'm not the inferior one. That would be you."

"I will never been an inferior! I am an Aryan!" He roared.

"No." She began to move once more. "Your not. All you do is continue your fathers misguided work. He was never a true Nazi. Both my family and I've fought real Nazi over generations and neither he nor you are real. But you will talk…or I get to have fun and _no one_ can stop me."

Chapter 30

It took almost another full four hours for Katherine to ring the truth from Jason Himmler but she got it. Her cold and hardened attitude seemed to unnerve him a great deal. Then again it unnerved everyone who was watching, which had grown to a considerable number since the first successful interrogation. The fact that she moved with such fluidity and clearly understood the scene only added to that for Jason. With the full interrogation came the names of the others in their group. After all was said and done Katherine left the room with a sense of accomplishment. And Jason with a sense of dread. He knew what his talking would cost him among the others. Most of the agents had already rotated out with the next shift, only Fache, Sophie, Collet and Moriana remained. They all seemed to begin tiring rapidly themselves.

"Let's all head home and get some sleep. The rest of this can wait for now." Fache recommended and everyone nodded beginning to head their own way. The couple just walked through the building in silence, no words were needed between them. At least not right now. This time the two had their own car to drive themselves, though admittedly it was actually Katherine's by ownership. The drive was short at that time of night, mercifully and thankfully. Going into the house and straight to the suite, they both began to relax. "I almost made a fatal mistake today, ma cheri."

"I know but I think anyone who went first would have faced the same possibility." She hugged him close as he sat on the bed tiredly. "The important thing is that your still here."

He wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her chest for a few moments. She ran her hand over his hair soothingly. After a while they pulled apart mutually, this time it was Katherine who kissed Fache's forehead making him chuckle. "Let's get some sleep. There will be more monsters to hunt in a little while."

"Goody." Katherine replied dryly though smiling slightly. Once both were in bed they snuggled close taking comfort in each others presence. Not everything had to be physical for them. Very few couples could claim that now a days. It was a definite bonus in any relationship.

88888888888888888888888888888888

The next morning the two where already in the DCPJ working on more profiles for the neo-nazi ring. Several of the people seemed to be rather ordinary, they led professional jobs in most cases, had many friends…but that was until you looked at there personal lives and the relationships. But soon enough they received a call from another task force agent.

"Report?"

"We were keeping an eye on one of those psycho's on the list. Monica Carlyle. We now believe they now have a hostage situation at her house. Request back up." A man's voice came over the speaker phone, his voice held some panic.

"We're on our way." Fache replied before disconnecting. He turned to give orders but found that people were already moving about getting ready. Both Fache and Katherine looked to each other grinning.

"I believe we have them well trained now, don't we?"

"Indeed, ma cheri. Let's go."

88888888888888888888888888888

They made it there within nine minutes. All be it, they speed through the streets like psycho's startling many pedestrians and other drivers. The agents already there managed to set up a spot where they could put the trucks for the command center and ambulance crews.

"Any more news?" Katherine asked as she, Fache and Collet approached the group.

"Yeah, the woman said one negotiator could go in but only unarmed and alone. We thought that was something and it was most certainly better then nothing."

"True." Katherine nodded before turning to look at the building. Then she began to disarm.

"What are you doing?" Fache demanded.

"Disarming. I'm the only one here trained as both a profiler and negotiator. I'll know how to read her best. She'll be more comfortable with a woman. I'm going in to talk to her. And to distract her while you get people into position." Katherine explained as she handed her weapons to Fache and Collet.

Fache made a growling noise before sighing. "Very well. But you will where your headset at all times."

"Promise." Katherine smiled at him before beginning to make her way to and into the building. She moved slowly as she entered the family room where Monica held another woman at gun point. "You wanted to talk?"

"Stop right where you are. Keep your hands where I can see them." Monica gained as manical look in her eyes. "Well, well. The bitch who is trying to destroy our great work."

"Yeah, that'd be me. I have a thing for going after extremists." Katherine shrugged. "Let the woman go. I won't risk her just to punish you."

"You've already punished me. And for what? To prove how smart you are? Not so smart now, are you?" Monica practically cackled.

"Smarter then you apparently." Katherine retorted with a snort.

"Shut up! You've arrested and killed visionary's! Now you'll pay! But I'll kill these bitches first. That's right or did you really think I had only one hostage?"

88888888888888888888888888888

Fache came in from the back laundry room. Quite and slow, more agents followed carefully in his wake. Letting her go alone was one of the hardest choices he's made of late, but he knew it was the right thing to do. They both knew the risks and would take then gladly to help protect others. No matter what.

He kept low, straining his ears for any sound, his eyes for any movement.

He shifted direction from one point to another at the sound of their voices. A sound to the side in a nook of the kitchen, looking over carefully his eyes widened. And he stopped. Two bound figures were secured to a post, gagged and unconscious. He motioned and two agents broke off, checking the two men, they gave the all clear and the rest of the group plowed on slowly.

88888888888888888888888888888

Katherine didn't twitch though her heart pounded harder. Her mind quickly narrowed down the possibilities of number and types of further hostages this madwoman could have. "I know your type. You couldn't have done any of this alone. Who helps you? Your father perhaps? Though how he could be of any use I don't know. He is rather spineless compared to you."

"Figured that out did you?" Grinning widely, Monica gestured with her free hand. "Come out dad. Join the party."

"Why couldn't you just leave it alone?" Richard stepped out beside his daughter. "Why couldn't you let it stay buried?"

"Is that what you did? Just accepted. Never looked? How long have you hid what these monsters were doing? Your own daughter among them? How can you let this happen now?"

"He did what he thought was best. Whatever he or they were it gave me good life." He shrugged slightly though Katherine could tell it was stiff.

"And there victim's? Would you use that pathetic excuse to them?" Her palms twitched for the knife that was in a hidden sheath on her leg. This wouldn't be the first time she's had to kill with her own two hands to save someone else's life. "And that was enough for you? Knowing what knew, and did nothing to stop it."

"I had a child of my own to think of. A life of my own. Why sully it with scandal? Why should my life be ruined?"

"But you didn't have a child to raise Dorothy did. With plenty of influence from the Himmlers no doubt."

"It wasn't my fault," he insisted. "I was barely twenty. I did what I was supposed to do!"

"Be a man." Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Monica watching Richard. Probe the right spot, she ordered herself. Carefully, carefully. "Be a father. But you let them slip in and take over. Again. They twisted her, Richard. Can you stand there and let this go on? Can you be a part of it? Can you protect her now, knowing she's killed?"

"She's my child. Nothing that's happened was her fault. It was his, and I won't her be hurt now."

"That's right. Not my fault," Monica agreed. "It's yours _Lady_ Katherine Evans. You brought it all on yourself." She glanced at the sprawled women at her feet. "And them."

"All you need to do is go away for a few weeks," Richard said. "Disappear long enough after calling off the rest of this investigation so we can get some where safe. Put a stop to the investigation and everything will be fine again."

"Is that what she told you? Is that how she talked you into getting these hostages? Is that how she convinced you to help with this? To do this? Are you so blind you can't see she's only interested in causing pain? In revenge?"

"Nobody else has to be hurt," he insisted. "I'm asking you to give me some time."

"She'll just lie." Monica shook her head. "She'll say what she thinks you want to hear. She wanted my grandfather to pay. My uncles to pay. But she'll pay now." Crouching she held the gun to one of the hostages heads.

"Monica no!" Richard shouted even as Katherine drew in a deep breathe. Katherine shot forward at the crazed woman with amazing speed. Her right hand drew the knife out and aimed for Monica's gun hand. As the knife sank in both Richard and Monica screamed. Fache came barging into the room with the other agents following quickly. Katherine held Monica in a lock position until an agent cuffed her. Monica fought every second of it until Katherine treated her to a right hook to her jaw, things were a little easier then as was knocked out. Robert just seemed paralyzed in shock as he too was cuffed.

"Hostages?" Katherine asked

"All safe and secure. Two in the kitchen are getting looked at now and another medic crew was coming to check on these two." Fache moved to stand next to Katherine. "We really need to stop having these situations pop up."

"Yeah, I was planning on putting out a call to a few friends world wide to see what's being done about the others. Hopefully we won't have many more of these wack jobs to deal with ourselves." Katherine replied before taking out her cell and began punching in a sequence. "Thank god for text messages now a days."

Chapter 31

While there weren't anymore obvious ones in France anymore, raids were being conducted by other counties on people within there own borders. A total of fifty nine people were arrested, an additional nine were killed in shoot outs or fights against the officers/agents doing the raids. The international media once again picked up the story and the origins of the resulting investigations, Katherine, Fache and the DCPJ agents. The minister once again held a press conference to update the public on 'the current crisis.' He again praised everyone who worked on the case and bringing the connects between this 'dangerous ring of criminals' to light. The publicity was getting annoying for the many agents. They had other cases to work on now, other people to help.

The construction on the DCPJ was progressing so fast it was almost complete save a couple of the larger conference rooms and labs but that would only take another week, maybe less. All of the peoples moral seemed to be on the rise for agents and others who used the facilities. The new surroundings coupled with the string of high level successes were great for all of them, in many ways. It seems that this helped Moriana finally get up the courage to ask Chloe Claude out on a date. She said yes while blushing rather heavily. It was a cute sight for everyone watching, especially for Fache and Katherine.

"Were we like that?" Fache asked.

"Yes." Katherine and Collet both answered before the three exchanged grins as the new couple chatted back and forth.

"Well, let's back to work." Fache muttered before topping off his cup of coffee and headed for the conference room. "Are there any specific cases that could take precedence?"

"We have three basic cop killers, five serial rapists, two potential serial murderers, one potential black market ring, and, oh yeah, art thieves." Katherine replied sarcastically leaning back in her seat. "I've already drawn up profiles on each so they can be with the files to who ever works them. Just in case."

"Alright, which one bothers you most?"

"Amazingly enough, the art thief." Katherine muttered to the surprise of the two men. "The art thief doesn't sell the pieces he takes on even the low level black markets, which means it's either for their own pleasure or the thief was paid to lift it for a particular client. Some of my concern comes from the fact that the thief seems to be on a cycle of rapid escalation. And what concerns me the most is that the pieces that were taken were not easy snatch and grabs. Some of them were guarded by some of the most sophisticated security systems available. If they can get through those systems…"

"Then they can access a lot more then just art." Collet finished following her line of thought.

"Let's run what we can and see what we get back. Then…" Fache began but they heard a loud crash from the main room. The three looked to each other before rising from there seats and went to see what was wrong.

"What in sam hell is going on?" Katherine questioned moving to check on the female agent who had apparently fainted.

"I don't know. She was talking on the phone and just fainted." Bernette replied on her other side.

Katherine noticed the phone was on the floor next to them and picked it up. "Hello? Yes I'm afraid she fainted. May I ask what you said…..WHAT!!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN SOMEONE STOLE THE MONA LISA!!!!"

88888888888888888888888888888

"I can not believe someone was able to steal the god damn Mona Lisa!" Fache growled as the forensics examined every inch of the display case and the immediate area around it. The new curator, Aldric Fabrice, who toke over after Sauniere's death, was wringing his hands nervously over next to him. "How can someone walk into the Louvre and steal something that is supposed to be one of the most protected artifacts on the planet?"

"Ummm….Bezu. They didn't steal _just_ the Mona Lisa." Katherine called from the other side of the room.

"What!" Fache barked. Many others also followed with sounds of shock and surprise.

"I thought I'd look and see if anything else is off in the same room." Katherine replied though somewhat absently as she examined yet another painting. "Several of these paintings are off. I've seen most of these up close and personal as I have a doctorate in antiquities and art sciences. But they're different. In some, the colors are off. In others, the brush strokes are off, sometimes even non-existents from where they are supposed to be."

"That can not be. It…it can't be." Fabrice stuttered as he moved forward to check the same painting Katherine had been examining. Taking out a small magnifying glass he began to examine the painting before slumping downwards. "She's right. It's…… it's a fake. How…how could this have happened?"

Katherine immediately turned to Fache. "We'll need to pull in art examiners to check the rest of the Louvre with some students or something. If Robert's still in the area he could help and I'll have to get my secretary to make some calls for me too. See who could help."

"Do it." Fache nodded, she had been right in the past to call in friends when needed, he would trust her again now when the scope of the task at hand had once again grown to enormous proportions. She immediately pulled out her cell phone and moved to just out of the room.

"Hey, it's me…yes I know but I need you to contact my art friends…no the ones who can authenticate. There should be notations next to each. No just ask them there current locations, if any are in Europe and can get to Paris quickly, tell them to fed-ex there butts to the Louvre immediately. And make a list of who they are. We need to have one in mass search to verify all the paintings and artwork we can. Well hint that the most important piece has gone missing. And also hint that if they don't keep there mouths shut properly I'll hunt them down personally. Oh, also contact Jason Gideon at the FBI BAU task force and give him an update as to what has happened. I promised to let him know if anything major popped up. No. Also contact Lara or her butler to let them know what happened. They'll know what to do. Thank you. Yes, I know that. And I'll have a nice present sent to your from here personally. Bye." After concluding the call she moved back into the room.

"How many do you think will come?"

"I only have, maybe, ten to fifteen colleagues I trust much less put in my address book. And they know some of my past. They'll know how serious this is for me to call them out of the blue in any fashion." Katherine replied as she looked at the curator who was having a major break down. "We'll need Sophie too. Given who her grandfather was I'd say she knows her stuff."

"Oh, after the last time Neveu was involved in the Louvre, I agree." Fache muttered.

88888888888888888888888888888

Within two hours all of Katherine's friends had shown up at the entrance they had been told to go to. Robert and Sophie also had a few people they trusted to help. So with the help of DCPJ agents they split into groups and each searched specific areas of the Louvre. Thankfully the thief or thieves stuck to one part around the Mona Lisa. But still a total of twenty pieces were stolen. _No one_ was pleased with that.

"Yes minister?" Katherine replied, Bezu had finally gotten frustrated with the ministers constant call every ten minutes. Katherine toke over the calls so he wouldn't say something stupid or angry. "Sir we cannot risk a public panic right now. Not with what's happened lately. Well they do have a double so the real one can be cleaned safely. Let's just put that one up, if anyone manages to notice then we can have the curator say it's being cleaned along with a _select_ group of others. Yes, sir I know but you have to admit that the panic could impede our efforts to get the real pieces back. I will keep you updated but it needs to be every few hours so we can get tangible results. I understand, thank you." Katherine finally closed the cell phone and then handed it back to Fache. "Finally. This is why I _hate_ politics!"

Several chuckled at the obvious annoyance in her voice. This included Fache. "You have far more patients for him then I do."

"Yeah that was a little more obvious after call number ten…or was it fifteen." Katherine replied tilting her head slightly eyes twinkling. Once again many chuckled though a few were obviously tired or drained from the massive search. Before she could speak again to him her cell phone rang. "Yes? Oh Lara. I take she was able to reach you. Yes, how long would it take you to get to Paris? Oh, can't come. No, no, I understand. Could you put some feelers out for intel? Thank you. You too. Bye."

"Who was that?"

"An old friend and colleague, Lady Lara Croft. Most know her as the tomb raider."

Chapter 32

"LARA! You made it." Katherine shouted in surprise as an armed woman approached with agent escorts.

"KATHERINE! How good to see you! Been a while since Beijing." The two women hugged tightly grinning at each other.

"Indeed it has. Are you still with…what's his name again?" Katherine joked.

"No, I lost him in Arabia. Met the nicest Bedouin there though. A very gifted Bedouin in the sheets." Lara snickered as the two walked through the museum to where Fache was. "I hear that you have a serious guy of your own."

"Yes, I do. I plan on giving him Claddagh." Katherine grinned at her friends shocked expression.

"He better treat you right or I get to have fun. Your like family." Lara hugged her close as they walked. The two merely grinned as they reached the center the DCPJ had set up in the grand gallery. They made quite a sight for the others present because this showed yet another side of Katherine to them. Katherine dragged Lara over to Fache.

"This is Lady Lara Croft, my best friend and adoptive sister. Lara, this is my love Captain Bezu Fache." Katherine introduced the two who shook hands.

"You realize if you ever hurt her I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth." Lara said as she stared at him in the eye.

"And I would let you." Fache nodded to her before she backed down.

"Would you play nice Lara, I don't need you trying to scare him away." Katherine wagged a finger at her. "Besides no pouching aloud."

"Mores the pity." Lara shrugged. "So what's going on besides the Mona Lisa."

"Several more pieces were replaced with fakes but only in this area. No prints and very little tool marks were left behind. We managed to swing together search groups to determine if anything else is missing anywhere." Katherine explained as she led Lara over to the case that once housed the Mona Lisa itself.

"Right then. Any leads?"

"Not as of yet." Collet replied entering the conversation.

"Well I'm still waiting for a few calls from some contacts I have. We'll see what they get." Lara shrugged.


	5. PROTEST

Myself, along with many, have been writing and posting on your fine site for years now, some of the better examples of up and coming writers out there are now suddenly finding some of the stories we've come to love at risk of being removed without the chance to even rectify our errors.

For some, that means the permanent loss of a story. While I don't have anything that I believe violates your terms of use, there are those out there that are never able to recover a story in its original form, this is something I find to be almost worthy of a legal action, as while we cannot claim ownership of a character, the stories are OURS and simply destroying them is something that is inexcusable.

It's quite easy to simply add an MA rating, additional filters or even a simple requirement for a free membership to read the stories presented here, and would cut down on hateful anonymous reviews and posts at the same time, so I have to question as to why such a thing, in all this time, simply wasn't added.

If you're worried about falsification of a registration then have an appropriate disclaimer and then there can be no dispute, you took your steps and the PARENTS didn't monitor their children, if that is even your concern. If it is more of a personal view or desire then please at least let people know and give them a chance to remove a story that you and yours find offensive, most people on the site are actually rather cordial when it comes to such requests.

While I cannot say for sure if this letter will even reach those that may be willing to listen, of if it's more akin to a wide spectrum purge in preparation for something bigger, please understand that you are going to be looseing a LARGE number of your writers, and thus your income from a lack of readers if there is not some level of action taken to help with this situation.

For those that may agree with this, please feel free to sign on and send this to the support server, maybe we can get some movement on this.

Psudocode_Samurai

Rocketman1728

dracohalo117

VFSNAKE

Agato the Venom Host

Jay Frost

SamCrow

Blood Brandy

Dusk666

Hisea Ori

The Dark Graven

BlackRevenant

Lord Orion Salazar Black

Sakusha Saelbu

Horocrux

socras01

Kumo no Makoto

Biskoff

Korraganitar the NightShadow

NightInk

Lazruth

ragnrock kyuubi

SpiritWriterXXX

Ace6151

FleeingReality

Harufu

Exiled crow

Slifer1988

Dee Laynter

Angeldoctor

Final Black Getsuga

ZamielRaizunto

Fenris187

blood enraged

arashiXnoXkami

Masane Amaha's King

Blueexorist

Nero Angelo Sparda

SoulEmbrace2010

RAW666

akuichimonji

deathNightwalker666

naruhina pwns

ReaperCB919

Wolf-Shinigami

Lady Kanko Wildstar


End file.
